Written in the stars
by isnt-that-wizard
Summary: The Doctor has survived his death in Utah and now they're back to travelling the universe with the Ponds, except they're departing and the impossible Clara Oswald is arriving. Is something wrong with Star? What will happen on Trenzalore, will they even survive? Fourth in the Starlight Saga.
1. Pond life

**Hello! Welcome to the forth story of the Starlight Saga. Featuring my oc, Star, the Doctors daughter.**

**Star is currently on her 5th regeneration, she is a slightly small girl (about 5ft 2) with ginger hair with a full fringe, hair clipped back with a bowtie that Doctor gave her at Christmas. She typically wears a white shirt with a bowtie around her neck, a green corset and a deep purple skirt, along with teal boots with pink laces, her dagger hidden inside. I picture her to look similar to Bella Thorne and at the end of Shine bright like a star was 617**

**"Italics" Gallifreyan**

**_'Italics'_ Mental communication.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor or we wouldn't have to wait a whole week for the next episode.**

April

"Hello Ponds." The Doctor called as he dialled the Ponds on the phone, "Checking in. How are you? Not much to report. Surfed the Fire Falls of Floridal 9…"

Star laughed at that, they'd been running through the corridors of the planet, only to end up stuck on a bridge over the magma, Sontarans closing in on them from either side. The Doctor had tossed the Extrapolator he had with him into the magma for them to ride on. Star had taken a leave out of Rivers book and asked them if they were on their hen night, resulting in them chasing them.

"Not deliberately." Star added, "But it was the easiest way out. And the most fun."

"Met Mata Hari in a Paris hotel room." The Doctor continued.

"I mean who in their right minds would just where a fur coat and only a fur coat." Star rambled, "We were having a fun time in the FAMILY room, toasting crumpets over the fire and she just waltzed in and then dropped off her coat. What else was I to do?"

"Cant believe you did that."

Star just grinned. She threw the woman outside in the cold, without her coat.

"Finally got Star to lay down some backing vocals," the Doctor smiled at the memory, "She has a lovely voice."

Star blushed. She quickly found out that when she sung along to the Disney movies thinking the room was sound proof, turned out the TARDIS decided to change that and so the Doctor had heard her singing along to The Lion King and had practically begged her to do the backing vocals in a recording studio.

"Should be with you any day now." Star remarked.

"Literally any day." The Doctor agreed as he rushed around the console, "Helmic Regulator's playing up. Can't get the temporal steering right…"

"Dad be careful!" Star shouted from the monitor, "You're heading right for Ancient Greece!"

"Assume the position!" he cried, both of them tucking their heads in their knees.

~.~

May

"It's their bedroom!" Star called as she ran after the Doctor as he ran up the stairs in the Ponds house late one night and barged right into their bedroom.

He quickly covered his eyes as the Ponds jolted up in their bed whether from sleeping or…other things, they didn't want to know, "Stop everything!"

"What's going on?" Rory gasped.

"Doctor!" Amy glared, "Bedroom!" he lifted his hand, peeking out.

"I did tell him." Star blinked as she entered, guessing it was safe to enter.

"We have one RULE about the bedroom!" Rory grumbled.  
>"No one on this planet is safe right now." The Doctor shouted, "We have to solve this before it's too late. Get your clothes on. If we move fast enough we at least stand a chance…"<p>

Star pecked his cheek, "Too early."

"Oh." he looked at the Ponds, "You have idea what im taking about do you?"

"No." Amy shook her head.

"No." Rory mimicked her.

"Oh Helmic Regulator!" he groaned, "Again!" he and Star headed out the room, calling back, "As you were!"

"Wait." Amy sat up even more in bed, "You can't just go like that. What's happening? Don't WE need to know?"

They popped their headed back into the room, "Popped up in the wrong order, easy mistake to make," the Doctor reassured her as they sat on the end of their bed, "Nothing to alarm you, forget we were ever here."

"We'll be back soon enough," Star smiled, "Probably."

"Everything's FINE. Pretty much. Don't worry about the future. The future's really safe. Really…really safe." He swallowed thinking about the Daleks, Dinosaurs and Cyborgs and the invasion of the small cubes from only a few days ago, at least for them anyway.

The Ponds just stared at him

"Night night, Ponds." Star whispered shut the door behind them.

~.~

June

They lost the Ood.

How do you loose an Ood? It followed them around waiting for ordered but yet, still, somehow, they'd lost it. It had ever gotten lost outside the TARDIS or lost in one of the room in the TARDIS. And so they'd split up and look in as many rooms as possible but Star had gotten distracted seeing a room looking like Wonderland. They'd given up looking after that. He'd turn up…eventually.

~.~

July

The Doctor sat in the harness under the console, fiddling with the wires, blackened goggles on his head. "Ood!" the Doctor suddenly cheered, making Star jump as she watched him, "Yes! I was wondering where he'd got to. I thought he'd just gone for a walk in the TARDIS."

"Must have wandered off when we popped in the other night…" Star mused, "If it was the other night."

"You know, we rescued him from the middle of the Androvax Conflict. We were taking him back to the Ood Sphere. Anyway, he's not being a nuisance is he?"

"He, um, seems to think he's our butler," Rory came on the line.

"He's conditioned to serve," Star sighed, "Best to just leave him too it."

"We'll come and pick him up tonight," the Doctor told them, "Whenever tonight is."

Just then the warning bells went off, "It wasn't me!" Star held her hands up in defense.

"Got to go." The Doctor winced, "The power drain's threatening to cause the TARDIS to implode. Oh no that's bad. Why's it doing that? No, no, no, no, no, don't do that!"

"Your fault!" Star called as she ran up to the console to try and stabilize them from there.

~.~

August

Star laughed as she stood on the top of a ladder, resting against the TARDIS, changing the bulb on top. The Doctor was at the base, holding the ladder to ensure she didn't fall, one hand on the ladder and the phone in the other, speaking to the Ponds answer phone.

"Ponds!" he cheered, "Us again. Sorry about the gaps in communications."

"We dropped the Ood back home" Star called closing the top of the TARDIS and jumping down off the ladder. "And reconnected it to the hive brain."

"Star!" he shouted at her, "Don't do that! You could hurt yourself!"  
>"Im sorry." She hung her head.<p>

And his hearts melted and he hugged her not seeing her smirk triumphantly.

"Helmic Regulator's still not working." The Doctor continued, "Got hit by an arrow at Hastings Hill. Also, rode a horse through 11th century Coventry."

"And don't forget you invented pasta" Star smiled.

"Ah. Yes I did." He nodded, remembering, "Anyway, we popped round but you were out. Which is fine. Everything's alright isn't it? With you two?"

"It's the Ponds," Star tried to assure him, both know it wasn't quite fine, "their always fine."

"Yes," he tried to agree, "Just…worrying unnecessarily. Anyway just call us if you need use, ok? Toodle Pip."

He sighed and looked at Star who nodded sadly. He pulled out the sonic and pointed it at the phone, erasing the message. They both knew that everything certainly wasn't ok with the Ponds.


	2. Asylum of the Daleks

The Doctor and Star stood in the shadows in a run down building. The Doctor had gotten a dream message from a woman, Darla, telling him her daughter was in danger. That was all the Doctor needed to go and help, had tried to sneak off without Star, not wanting to put her in danger considering what planet they were in but she caught him and refused to let him go alone. So here they were on Skaro hiding in the shadows, watching a woman in a cloak, looking out of the window out to the ruins of the planet.

"First there were the Daleks..." the woman spoke, "and then there was a man who fought them and a girl who helped destroy them, and then, in time, he died and she never existed. There are a few of course who believe this man somehow survived and this girl is real...and that one day they WILL return. For both our sakes, dearest Hannah, we must hope these stories are true."

"I got your message," the Doctor called and the woman turned. "Not many people can do that. Send me messages."

"I have a daughter. Hannah." the Doctor tensed, and held Star closer. "She's in a Dalek prison camp. They can you can help."

"Do they? I wish they'd stop." he walked over and looked out the window, "Helluva voice of meeting place."

And he did wish they'd stop. How hard was it to just see the universe in peace with his daughter without being sent to life threatening situation because people think they can help.

"They said I'd have to intrigue you."

"Skaro." Star sighed, looking down as the rain fell, "The original planet of the Daleks," she let out a small scoff, "Look at it now." It disgusted her how Skaro still existed while they lost Gallifrey, their enemies still had their planet, not that it was habitual, but still it was there.

"Who told you about us?" the Doctor looked at Darla.

"Does it matter?" she countered.

"Maybe not," he walked over and pulled off her hood, revealing her straight ginger hair and pale skin, "But you're very well informed," he walked back away to the window, to Star, "If Hannah's in a Dalek prison camp, tell us, why aren't you?"

"I escaped."

Star chuckled bitterly, "No one escapes the Dalek camps," she gripped the woman's hand, "You're very cold." she put a hand in the woman's cheek before stepping back, looking around nervously.

"What's wrong?"

"It's a trap." she looked at the Doctor, wide eyes.

"What is?"

"You are and you don't even know it," the Doctor pulled Star behind him as an eyestalk appeared in Darla's head. She lifted her hand and fired at them from the Dalek gun that appeared in her palm, knocking them both out as a Dalek ship appeared in the sky.

"The Doctor and Star are acquired," the Dalek ship announced.

~.~

The Doctor walked in front of Star as they were led by a Dalek through the halls of the ship, two more Daleks were behind them. They had been more alarmed when they had awoken to discover that Amy and Rory had been 'acquired' as well as them.

As they walked they could hear Rory speaking, "...How much trouble are we in?"

The door opened and they blinked as they entered a white room, Amy and Rory inside.

"How much trouble Mr Pond?" the Doctor asked entering the room, the Daleks surrounding them. "Out of 10? 11."

The ceiling above opened like a circle, and the floor rose, taking them up to find themselves in a room surrounded by thousands of different kinds of Daleks. On a pedestal was a mutant in a clear case, watching them.

"Where are we?" Amy looked around, "Spaceship right?"

"Worse," Star murmured, "Much worse."

"How much worse?" Rory asked.

"This isn't just any spaceship," the Doctor told them, "The Parliament of the Daleks. Be brave."

"What do we do?" Amy looked at them.

"Make them remember you," Star whispered.

The Doctor stepped forwards, "well come on then. You've got me! What are you waiting for? At long last, it's Christmas!" he threw his arms out, "Here I am!" and closed his eyes, Star escaped Rory's hold and ran to his side. They wanted to kill him, they'd have to kill her too.

"Save us," the mutant cried, "You will save us." the Doctor cracked an eye open, "You will save us."

The Doctor blinked, "I'll what?"

"You will save the Daleks."

"Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks!" the Daleks chanted. "Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks! Save the Daleks!"

"This is new." Star remarked.

~.~

Star paced back and forth with the Doctor. Well it was more he was the one pacing, but he refused to get go of her hand and so she was forced to pace as well, it was quite amusing actually.

"What's he doing?" Rory hissed to Amy.

"He's chosen the most defendable area in the room," Amy watched them pace, "Counted all the Daleks, counted all the exits and Stars calculating the exact distance we're standing apart and both are starting to worry. Something's wrong with Amy and Rory, and who's going to fix it? And they straighten their bow ties!"

"We have arrived." the white Dalek that had been created from when they met Winston Churchill stated.

"Arrived where?" the Doctor glanced at the Dalek.

"Doctor..." the mutant Dalek called.

"The Prime Minister will speak with you and your daughter now." Darla stated, gesturing for them to walk forwards.

The Doctor stiffened not wanting Star near the Daleks anymore than she already was but she just strode forwards.

She wasn't afraid of them, they were Daleks, they'd faced them so many times before and she just...she had given up even thinking about being afraid of them, they were afraid of them. To her they were just talking pepper pots that killed their people and planet. Honestly they shouldn't let her near the Prime Minster.

The Doctor followed her but paused when he came up to Darla, "Do you remember who you were before they emptied you out and turned you into their puppet?" he asked her quietly.

"My memories are only re-activated if they are required to facilitate deep cover or disguise." she said.

"You had a daughter." just too forget the daughter you had and not care. It disgusted him.

"I know. Ive read my file."

He glanced at her for a moment longer before continuing up the ramp and joining Star before the Prime Minster, "Well?"

"What do you know do the Dalek Asylum?" the Minster asked them.

"According to legend, you have a dumping ground. A planet where you lock up all the Daleks that go wrong. The battle-scarred, the insane...the ones even you can't control. Which never made sense..." he turned away and looked at the other Daleks.

"Why not?"

"Why not just kill them?" Star wondered. It was what Time Lords did, kill them and then pretend they never existed.

"It is offensive to extinguish such divine hatred."

The Doctor turned back to the Minister, "Offensive?"

"Does it surprise you to know the Daleks have a concept of beauty?"

The Doctor bent forwards and looked into the Daleks eye, "I thought you'd run out of ways to make me sick, but hello again. You think hatred is beautiful."

Star pulled the Doctor away, wanting to get out of there.

"Perhaps that is why we have never been able to kill you."

The Doctor stopped and turned back at this.

_'Don't' _Star called to him, _'It's what they want.'_

They both looked over hearing a mechanical whirring and saw the floor by Amy and Rory opening. They walked over and peered down to see at a planet in the distance directly below them.

"The Asylum," Darla joined them, "It occupies the entire planet. Right to the core."

"How many Daleks are there?" Star tilted her head looking down.

"A count has not been made. Millions, certainly."

"All still alive?" the Doctor asked.

"It has to be assumed. The Asylum is fully automated, supervision is not required.

"Armed?" Amy wondered.

"The Daleks are always armed."

"What colour?" Rory questioned earning a look from them, "Sorry. There weren't any good questions left."

"The signal is being received from the very heart of the Asylum," Darla pressed a button and the Habernera from Carmen came over the speakers.

The Doctor smiled pretending to conduct as Star laughed and swayed with the music.

"What is the noise?" the white Daleks demanded, "Explain! Explain!"

"It's me!" the Doctor smiled.

Rory blinked, "Sorry what?"

"Hes playing the triangle," Star laughed as the Doctor dinged an air triangle.

"Ok, I got buried in the mix. Carmen! Lovely show. Someone's transmitting this." He pulled out the sonic and used it on the small transmitter, "Have you considered tracking back the signal and talking to them?"

"He asked the Daleks." Star joked.

He stuck her tongue out at her, before turning back to the controls, "Hello? Hello, Carmen? Hello? Come in, come in, come in, Carmen."

"Hello," a young woman answered, "yes, yes, sorry, do you read me?"

"Yes, reading you loud and clear. Identify yourself and report your status."

"Hello! Are you real? Are you actually, properly real?"

"Yup," Star nodded, "Confirmed, actually properly real."

"Oswin Oswald," she reported, "Junior Entertainment Manager, Starship Alaska, Current status, crash and shipwrecked somewhere…not nice. Been here a year, rest of the crew missing. Provision good, but keen to move on."  
>"A year?" Star eyes widened, "Are you ok? Are you under attack?"<p>

"Some local life-forms, I've been keeping them out."

"Do you know what those life-forms are?"  
>"I know a Dalek when I hear one, yeah."<p>

"What have you been doing, on your own, against the Daleks for a year?"  
>"Making soufflés."<p>

"Soufflés?" the Doctor laughed, "Against the Daleks?"

"Where do you get the milk?" Star wondered, and they all looked at her. "What?"

"This conversation is irrelevant!" the white Dalek declared.

"No, it isn't!" the Doctor argued, seeing what Star had realised. Where did she get the milk for a whole year?!

"No," Oswin called, as the Daleks tried to cut her off, "Hello. Hello!"

"Because a Starliners crashed into your Asylum, and someone's got in. And if someone can get in, then everything n get out, a tsunami of insane Daleks. Even you don't want that."

"The Asylum must be cleansed." The white Dalek agreed.

"Then why is it still here?" Star countered, "You've got enough firepower on this ship, to blast it out of the sky."

"They Asylum force-field is impenetrable."

"Turn it off." The Doctor shrugged.

"It can only be turned off from within the Asylum," Darla told them.

"A small task force could sneak through a force-field, send a couple of Daleks."

"Cowards." Star muttered, knowing what they wanted.

"Oh!" the Doctor stopped and clapped, "oh, that's good. That's brilliant. You're all too scared to go down there! Not one of you will go! So tell me, what do the Daleks do when they're too scared?"  
>"The Predator of the Daleks will be deployed." The white Dalek stated.<p>

"You don't have a predator."

Star cleared her throat, and he looked at her, stunned before turning back to the Dalek, "But she's young, she's a child! You're scared of her more than me?!" now that surprised him.

"I did hurt them down." Star reminded him, "I mean come on, I went after Dalek Caan for Gods sake, surely that was obvious!" she was insane after all, and not all the Daleks survived for one day on the crucible, she did keep getting out of her prison on the ship, and she was pretty sure she annoyed the hell out of the Daleks.

"Ok," the Doctor nodded, taking her hand, feeling her relax, not even knowing she was tense, "But why would she turn off a force-field for you?"

"Because you will have no other means of escape." It said.

Even the Daleks knew that Star would do anything for her family and those she cared about.

Star squeezed his hand, tightly. The only way they could leave would be to turn of the force-field, and with them all there, the Daleks were going to send them all down.

"You will need this," Darla called, nodding to two male Dalek Puppets who came and snapped a band on they're wrists, a blue light turned on, "it will protect you from the Nano-cloud."

"The what?" the Doctor frowned, "the nano-what?"

"Nano-cloud." Star repeated for him.

"The gravity beam will convey you close to the source of the transmission." Darla remarked, "You must find a way to deactivate the force-field from there."

"You're going to fire us at a planet?" the Doctor cried, as they moved to Amy and Rory, "that's your plan? We get fired at a planet and expected to fix it?"

"In fairness, that is slightly you MO." Rory commented.

"Don't be fair to the Daleks when they're firing us at a planet! What do you want with them?"

The bands were also placed on Amy and Rory's wrists, "It is known that the Doctor and Star require companions." The white Dalek reported.

"Oh, brilliant." Rory rolled his eyes, "Good-oh!"

"Don't worry," Star whispered, "we'll get through this. Promise. Don't be scared."

"Scared?" Amy smirked, "Who's scared? Geronimo."

The Doctor chuckled before on of the men pushed him into the beam, "Oi!"

Star, Amy and Rory were pushed after him.

"Wrong way up!" Rory yelled as he fell upside down, "Wrong way up!"

"RORY!" Amy tried to reach him.

"Dad!" Star screamed as the beam split into two.

"Star!" he cried as she and Amy went one way and he and Rory, the other.

~.~

Star blinked herself awake, looking up at the clear sky above her, snow all around, and a small Dalek eyepiece staring at her from the snow.

She blinked and looked at it, "Hello."

The comm. opened and Carmen played through it.

Star laughed and looked back up at the sky as Oswin spoke through it, "Sorry, sorry," the music stopped, "Pressed the wrong switch."

"Hello, Soufflé girl."

"Could always call me Oswin, seeing as that's my name. You ok?"

"How are you doing that?" she tapped the eyepiece, "its Dalek technology."

"Well, it's very easy to hack."

"No, it really isn't. Where are you, anyway?"

"Ship broke up when it hit. Somewhere underground, I think. You coming to get me?"

"Doctor?" she heard Amy shouting from the distance, "Star?!"

"Hey!" she cried, as static sounded, the connection failing, "Oi! Soufflé girl! Come back..."

"Star!" Amy spotted her.

She turned and jumped up running to the woman, to see a black man in a white snow suit following her, "Amy!" she hugged her tightly; "Have you see dad? Or Rory?"

"There was another beam," the black man told them, "there," he pointed, "over there." they ran off following where the man pointed, "Are you the rescue team?" he asked, following them as they ran through the snow to a small hole that had formed.

"Rory?" Amy called down, "Rory? RORY!"

"Dad!" Star screamed, _'Daddy! Answer me or I swear...'_

_'Im fine!'_ he assured her. _'Nova! It's ok, I'm alright.'_

_'Are you with Rory?'_

_'Yes. He's here. We're...underground...somewhere. Where's Amy?'_

_'She's fine. She's with me. Are you safe?_

There was a moment of silence before he replied, _'Perfectly fine! But Rory's not waking up..."_

_'Hold on.'_ she sighed and called into Rory's mind, _'RORY!'_

_'That got it._' she heard the Doctor laughed, obviously Rory had jumped awake at the sudden sound of her voice in his mind, _'He says he wished you'd stop doing that.'_

_'Never.'_ she smirked.

Star sighed, the Doctor and Rory were together, she and Amy were together, they were apparently fine. But the Doctor had lied to her she could hear it in his mental voice, it was higher than normal...and he had lied to he! He had actually lied to her! How dare he. He and Rory were somewhere down below with Daleks nearby.

"We came down two days ago," the black man remarked to them as he led them to his ship, "There are 12 other escape pods. I don't know what happened to them." he opened the hatch and Amy wiped some of the snow surrounding it to see the name of the ship.

"Alaska?" she frowned and looked at Star, "That's the same ship as soufflé girl."

Star nodded, "Yeah...but she's been here a year."

The man climbed down the ladder and into the ship. "We should have some climbing rope long enough for that hole."

Star followed him down, followed by Amy and eyed the crew in similar snowsuit, their backs to them, "Won't you introduce us?"

"Ah, yeah, sorry," the man smiled, "Guys. This is Star and Amy."

Star grinned, but didn't get a reply or reaction, her grin turned into a frown, _'Keep back.' _she warned Amy silently.

The woman not disturbed in the slightest at having her in her mind, kept back.

"Guys." the man eyed his crew.

"That's very rude," Star huffed, pouting, before patting the shoulder of one of the crew closest to reveal a dried-out corpse.

"Oh my god..."

"Are they dead?" Amy swallowed.

"What do you think?" Star snapped before sighing and rubbing her temples, "Sorry...just worried. Yeah, they're dead."

"That's not possible," the man shook his head, "I just spoke to them. 3 hours ago. We were doing engine repairs."

"I'd say they've been dead longer than 3 hours. A lot longer."

"But...but they can't have..." the man shook his head rapidly.

"Well they didn't get in that state in 3 hours." Amy remarked.

"Oh, of course!" the mans eyes widened, "Stupid me."

"Of course, what?"

"I died outside and the cold preserved my body. I forgot about dying." an eyestalk grew out of his forehead and he advanced on the pair.

"Amy!" Star called, her eyes locked on the man, "Door!"

Amy pushed the button to open the door and Star flashed her eyes, using her mind to push the man through it. Locking him away.

"Explain!" Amy ordered, "You like to talk. Do talk! How did he get all Daleked?!"

"He wasn't wearing this!" she held up her wrist with the band on, and then she laughed, "Clever! The nano-cloud. Micro-organisms that automatically process any organic matter, living or dead, into a Dalek puppet. Anything attacks this place, it automatically because on side security. These wrist bands protect us."

"Star!" Amy cut her off, "Living or dead?"

"Yes. Living or dead."

"Living or DEAD?"

"That what I..." she trailed realising what Amy meant they looked at the corpses to see eyestalks coming out of their heads, "Said."

"Now what?"

"Run!" she ran across the room, shoving the corpses out of the way as Amy followed right behind her.

But one of the corpses grabbed Amy wrist, Star shoved it back and pushed Amy through the door, locking it behind them.

"Is it bad that I've really missed this?" Amy asked with a laugh.

"Good isn't it?" Star grinned wildly.

"Unauthorised personal may not enter the cockpit." Oswin called over the comm.

"Oh shut up!"

"Ooh, Little Miss Grumpy! Bad combo! No sense of humour and ginger."

"I'll have you know that I have a great sense of humour...and daddy's very jealous of my hair."

"Is that her?" Amy asked, "Soufflé girl?"

"Or Oswin."

"I'm scanning you." Oswin said, "You're on another of the escape pods from the Alaska, right? Same ship I was on."

"How can you hack into everything? It's impossible; you're in a crash ship."

"Long story. Is that a word for total screaming genius that sounds modest and a tiny bit sexy?"

Star smiled smugly, "Star. Im Star."

"I see what you did there. But I'm going to call you Gingerbread. Check the floor. I'm picking up a breach at floor level; there could be a way out. See you later!"

Star looked down, seeing a hatch, she knelt next to it, "Looks like its been used already and they tried to block it off behind them."

"Can't imagine why." Amy muttered.

"The lower part of the pod is buried, so this must go straight down into the Asylum."

"Where Rory and the Doctor are?"

"Mmm," She looked at the woman sharply, "Anything you wanna explain?"

"Don't give me that look. We split up. What can you do?"

"You'd be surprised." She murmured, thinking back to the Dream Lord incident.

"You can't do a thing. It's not one of those things you can fix like how you and the Doctor straighten your bow ties. Don't give me that disappointed look. It's life. Just life. That thing that goes on when you and the Doctor aren't there."

Star merely opened the hatch and they looked down to see a ladder hanging down.

"Ok," Amy nodded, "So someone else got out this way then?"

"Let's go find out!" Star grinned.

There was a banging in the door and Star looked at the screen to see the corpses waving something at the camera, "What have they got...?" she walked over to see them holding a wrist band.

"What's that?" Amy moved to join her.

"One of these," she held up her wrist with the band on, "Where did they get it..." she trailed and slowly moved her head to looked at Amy and pulled up her jacket sleeve to see her arm bare.

"Star?" Amy tensed at her expression, "What going to happen to me? Seriously, tell me, what?"

She glanced back at the corpses as the waved the wrist band tauntingly, "Lets go down, then I'll explain."

~.~

"So tell me," Amy ordered softly, as they headed down the ladder, "What's going to happen to me? And don't lie, cos I know when you're lying to me and I will definitely fall on you."

"Daddy will kill you if you do that." Star tried to joke.

"Just tell me!"

She sighed, "the air all around is full of micro-machines, robots the size of molecules, nanogenes. Now that you're unprotected, you're being…rewritten."

"So, what happens?" Amy asked as they reached the bottom of the ladder, "I get one of those things sticking out of my head?"  
>"That will come later." She took her hand and they walked off.<p>

"What comes first, how does it start?"

"With your mind. Your feelings, your memories. Sorry but it's already started."

"How do you know?"

She looked around at her and stopped walking, "Because this is the forth time we've had this conversation."

"Ok. Scared now."

"Good," she hugged her, "Scared isn't Dalek. Hold onto it."

A door opened in front of the duo.

"What's that?" Amy asked.

They couldn't see any Daleks but called hear them. They backed up and the door slid shut.

"Soufflé girl?!" Star called, "Can you hear me, Oswin?!"

"Hello, Gingerbread!" Oswin answered, "I have visual on you!"

"Why don't I have visual on you? Why can't I see you?"

"Limited power, bad hair, take your pick. There's a door to your left, open it. Going to send you a map to that screen. I've put your little friends somewhere safe; I can get you to them."

"You've found daddy!" she cheered, "and Rory?"

"I call him Chinny and Nina. It's a personal thing, hush now."

"Rory!" Amy gasped, "You found him?"

Star scoffed as she open the panel Oswin told her to and found the map.

"What?"

"Now you care about him." She laughed lightly.

"I always care about him."

"Then why are you giving him up?"

"Because…you wouldn't understand."

"Because you can't have kids?" she guessed.

"Yeah." She admitted quietly, "Whatever they did to me at Demons Run…I can't have kids."

"Im sorry. But that's a stupid reason to get a divorce."

"You know nothing!" Amy glared at her.

She slammed the panel close, "Amy I am the only Time Lady left as dad is the only Time Lord. You really think I have no idea what its like to never have the chance to raise a child. You have a daughter. You may not have raised her but she is alive and…and I'll never be able to have a child…because there's no one else. I used to live in hope that others escaped and there are more Time Lords out there. But I soon quit, I gave up looking, I stopped believing. There's no one else. Every adventure we had, everywhere we went I tried to sense them, but…nothing. It's just us. And I don't know how I feel about that." She blinked and shook her head, "So how many Daleks are in that room?" she called to Oswin.

"Im sorry." Amy whispered. But Star ignored her, waiting for Oswin's reply.

"10, 20, hard to say." Oswin replied, having stayed silent while she ranted, "Some of them are catatonic, but they do have firepower."

"How do I get past them? Not that I can't…" she turned around and saw a Dalek approaching "Come on. Run!" she took Amys hand and they ran back to the ladder only for the corpses to come down it. "Oh, come on!" she groaned, turning back to the Dalek.

"Intruder!" it cried. "Intruder! Intruder!" it fired its weapon but nothing happened.

"It's damaged..." Star laughed at it.

"But what do we do?" Amy asked.

Star just bent down to look the Dalek in the eyestalk, "Who am I? Be a good boy and identify me."

"Don't treat it like a dog!"

"Come on boy, identify me. Who am I?"

"You…are…the Predator." The Dalek stated.

"Yes I am. Access your standing orders concerning the Predator."

"The Predator must be destroyed."

"But how? Dalek without a gun, you're a tricycle with a roof! Have fun trying to destroy me!"

"Self-destruct initiated."

"What's it doing?" Amy demanded.

"Its going to blow itself up, thinking it'll take me with it."

"Wont it?"

"Self-destruct cannot be countermanded." The Dalek stated.

She continued grinning, "Oh, I don't need to countermand it." her grinned faded into a dark look with her 'dark eyes' as she called them, "I can do this!" and just by looking at the Dalek, it began moving backwards, the countdown of the self-destruct still going. It arrived in the room with the Daleks and collided with one, exploding.

"Wow…" Amy breathed.

Perfect.

~.~

"Who killed all the Daleks?" Rory asked as he and the Doctor entered the room with the exploded Daleks.

"Me." Star said, as she half carried, half dragged Amy's body into the room, weak from the nanogenes. "Its actived self-destruct. I got bored."

"Amy!" Rory rushed over and scooped her in his arms as she fainted, heading to the teleport room.

The Doctor whistled, "Nicely done."

"Thank you." a small, dazed smile appeared on her face something the Doctor didn't like the look off.

"Star." he snapped his finger in front of her face, "Snap out of it."

She blinked and shook her head, "Sorry." She grinned sheepishly, "got...a bit carried away…" she looked at the damage she did and bit her lip.

"You're ok." He breathed, hugging her tightly.

"Course im ok. Im the queen of ok, remember. As you're the king of ok." She nudged him playfully.

"What happened to Amy?" Rory demanded, "She won't wake up."

She swallowed and took the Doctors hand heading into the teleport room where Amy laid on the pad, "she lost her wristband and the nano-cloud is making her into a Dalek puppet."

"Will sleeping help her? Slow down the process?"

"You'd better hope so." Oswin called, "Because pretty soon, she's going to try and kill you."

"Amy," Rory called gently, seeing her coming around, "Amy, you're still with us," he stroked her hair, "Do you remember me?" she slapped him, "She remembers me."

The Doctor smiled, "Same old Amy."

"Do you know how you make someone a Dalek?" Oswin asked them, "Subtract love, add anger. Doesn't she seem a bit too angry to you?"

"Well! Somebody's never been to Scotland." Amy grumbled.

"What's about you though, Oswin?" the Doctor questioned her, "How come you're ok? Why hasn't the nano-cloud converted you?"

"I mentioned the genius thing, yeah?"

"To me," Star reminded her.

"Shielded in here."

"Clever of you," the Doctor nodded, "now this place, the Daleks said it was fully automated. But look at it, it's a wreck."

"Well, I've had nearly a year to mess with them and not a lot else to do."

"A junior entertainment manger, hiding out in a wrecked ship…hacking the security systems of the most advanced warrior race the universe has eve seen."

"But what really gets me about you, Oswin. The soufflés!" Star commented, "Where do you get the milk for the soufflés? Seriously, is no one else, except me and dad, wondering about that?"

"No. frankly, no." Rory shook his head, "Twice."

"So, Doctor, I've been looking you up. And you Star, you're all over the Database. Why do the Daleks call you the Predator?"

"Ah!" she grinned, "I like destroying them."

"And im just a man with a plan." The Doctor added.

"You've got a plan?" Oswin asked.

"We're all ears." Rory spoke up.

"There's a nose joke going, if anyone wants to pick that one off!" Amy added.

"In no particular order," the Doctor continued, "we need to neutralise all the Daleks in this Asylum, rescue Oswin from the wreckage, escape from this planet and fix Rory and Amy's marriage…"

"Ok, im counting 3 lost causes, anyone else?"

"Amelia!" Star snapped as Rory slapped his knee and walked away in his frustration, "You need to shut up!"

"Oswin," the Doctor cut in, pulling Star closer to him and away from Amy before she tried to kill her, honestly he was surprise she had lasted this long without trying to kill her, "There's a Dalek ship in orbit."

"Yeah, got it on the sensors."

"The Asylum has a force-field." Star stated, "The Daleks upstairs are waiting for me to turn it off. Soon as I do, they'll burn this world and us with it."

The Doctor clapped his hands, "so, Oswin, my question is this. How fast can you drop the force-field?"

"Pretty fast." Oswin answered, "but why would I?"  
>"Because this is a teleport, am I right, Oswin?"<p>

"Yeah. Internal use only."

He snapped his fingers, "I can boost the signal." He grinned and knelt on the teleport, "once the force-field is down, and we can use this to beam us right off this planet."

"But you said, when the force-field is down, the Daleks will blow us up." Rory pointed out.  
>"We have to be quick."<p>

"Fine, we'll be quick, but where do we beam to?" Amy asked.

"The only place within range. The Dalek ship."

"Where they exterminate us on the spot."

"This is the kind of escape plan where you survive 4 seconds longer?" Rory sighed.

"What's wrong with 4 seconds?" the Doctor looked insulted at that remark, "you can do lots in 4 seconds."

Like finally become a monster, Star thought. She blinked rapidly, what…what was that? Why did you just think that? She shook her head trying to forget that thought. "Oswin!" she called, "How fast can you drop the force-field?"

"I can do it from here. As soon as you come and get me."

The Doctor stood back up, "no, just drop the force-field and come to us."

"There's enough power in that teleport for one go. Why would you wait for me?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Star countered.

"No idea, never met you. Sending you a map so you can come get me."

"This place is crawling with Daleks." Rory reminded them.

"Yeah. Kind of why im anxious to leave. Come up and see me some time."  
>Rory leaned over the panel as the Doctor and Star looked at the map, "So? Are we going to go get her?"<p>

"I don't think we have a choice." Star sighed. Something wasn't right with Oswin, no one could survive a crashed ship for a year, let alone the Dalek Asylum and where did she get that milk from? It didn't make sense.

"Ok," the Doctor nodded, "soon as the force-field is down, the Daleks will attack. If it gets too explodey-wodey in here, you go without me. Ok? He handed Rory the teleport control.

"And leave you to die?" Rory frowned.

"Oh, don't worry about us." Star waved him off, "You're the one beaming up to a Dalek ship to get exterminated."

"No!" the Doctor exclaimed, "You're going with them!"

"Like hell I am."

"You are going with them!"

"We can spend our time arguing or you can just accept that im staying. Deal with it."

"What about Amy?" Rory cut in.  
>"Keep her remembering." The Doctor sighed, knowing that Star won, "keep her focused, that'll hold back the conversion."<p>

"What do I do?" Amy called.

"Don't let them subtract love." Star said as she and the Doctor left to get Oswin.

~.~

They walked cautiously through the corridors. In the distance Daleks could be heard, "Emergency, emergency! We are the Daleks! We are the Daleks! We are the Daleks…"

The Doctor took Stars hand as they continued walking.

The girl glanced into a camera and straightened her bowtie, knowing that the humans had now realised that she slid her wristband onto Amy. She didn't need it. She knew Rory would care about Amy enough to give her is band, she'd refuse, they'd find the band on her arm, and then make up. She was such a little matchmaker.

"Oswin," the Doctor whispered, "I think we're close."

"You are." Oswin came back on the comm. "Less than 20 feet away. Which is the good news…"

"Ok. And the bad, which I suddenly feel is coming…"

"You're about to pass through intensive care."

The door in front of them open and they entered the room. There was only a few Daleks, each in individual cells, some in chains.

"So, what's special about this lot then?" Star wondered.

"Dunno." Oswin replied, "Survivors of particular wars. Spiridon. Kembel. Aridius. Vulcan. Exxilon. Ringing any bells?"

Star eyes lit up, hearing those names, "oh, yes…"

"How?"

The Doctor stepped in front of a Dalek, "These are the Daleks who survived me."

"Then why aren't you the Predator?"

Star smirked, "Daleks don't survive me."

"Doc…tor…St…ar…Doc…tor…St…ar…" the Daleks began to awake.

"That's weird." Oswin remarked, "Those ones don't usually wake up for anything."

"Yeah, well," the Doctor tried to shrug off, "special visitors." They ran to the door at the opposite end, "Ok, door, but it won't open, he soniced it, "you can't be far away though…"

"Hang on, not quite sure...there's a release code, let me, let me just…anything happening out there?"

"No."

"Hang on, im trying a thing."

Star threw her hands out to open the door…but nothing happened, "ok…odd…"

They slowly turned to see the Daleks breaking out of their chains and slowly advancing, "Doc…tor…St…ar…Doc…tor…St…ar…"

"Oswin!" Star pounded on the door, "Get this door open! Now!"

"I can't!" Oswin cried.

"Oswin." She said, calmly, keeping a wall up, so the Daleks couldn't get too close, "Please, open the door."

The Doctor pulled Star behind him, slowly, so she didn't drop the wall. She was strong and he knew it but still…right now he was TERRIFIED. "PLEASE GET THIS DOOR OPEN!"

Star flinched as the Daleks pushed against the wall, slowly breaking it. She breathed harder, trying to keep it up and steady and then…the Daleks turned away.

"Oh, that is cool." Oswin laughed, "Tell me im cool."

"What did you do?" the Doctor breathed.

"Hang on, I think I've found the door thingy…"  
>"No, tell me what you did!"<p>

"The Daleks, they have a hive mind. Well they don't, but they have a telepathic web."

"The Path Web, yes." Star agreed.

"I hacked into it. Did a master delete on all the information connected with the Doctor and Star."

"You made the forget us?" the Doctor gaped.

"Good, eh? And here comes the door!"  
>The door behind them opened and they stood where they were, not turning.<p>

"I've tried hacking into the Path Web. Even I couldn't do it." Star murmured.

"And that's saying something." The Doctor remarked.

"I may be young, but im super smart. When I want to be. I'm daddy's little genius."  
>"Come and met the girl who can," Oswin laughed.<p>

They turned, into a white honeycombed room, smiling, but they tensed not seeing a girl in need but a Dalek chained up.

"Hey!" Oswin called through the only comm. in the room, sounding like a Dalek now, "You're right outside, come on in."

"Oswin," the Doctor swallowed, "we have a problem."

"No, we don't. Don't even say that. Joined the Alaska to see the universe, ended up stuck in a shipwreck, first time out. Rescue me, Chin boy, Gingerbread, and show me the stars."

"Does it look real to you?" Star sighed. It wasn't a sigh feeling sorry for her but more…she should have expected this.

"It IS real."

"It's a dream, Oswin." The Doctor continued, "You dreamed it for yourself, because the truth was too terrible."

The Dalek/Oswin was silent a moment "Where…am…I? Where…am…I?"

"Because you are a Dalek."

"I am not a Dalek! I am NOT a Dalek! Im human."

"You were human when you crashed here." The Doctor rested a hand on the casing, feeling terrible, "It was you who climbed out of the pod, that was your ladder."

"Im…human…"

"Not anymore." Star shook her head, "because you're right, you're a genius. And the Daleks need genius. They didn't just make you a puppet, they did a full conversion."

"Where am I? Where am I? Where am I?"

"Oswin," the Doctor sighed, sadly, "I am so sorry. But you are a Dalek. The milk, Oswin. The milk and the eggs for the soufflés, where, where did it all come from?"

"Eggs…" Oswin began. "Eggs."

"It wasn't real it was never real."  
>"Eggs…term…in…ate." She slowly raised her gun.<p>

"Oswin?" Star frowned.

"Eggs…term…in…ate. Exterminate!" she began to advance on them, breaking out of her chains.

The Doctor pulled Star behind him, backing away, "No, no, no, Oswin. Oswin listen…Oswin! You don't have to do this!"

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

And then a blue wall appeared, stopping her, he looked to see Star staring straight ahead at Oswin, with her 'dark eyes' at the Dalek. But she wasn't looking at her; it was like…like she had no control over it.

"Star!" he cupped her face in his hands, "Star no! Don't! Don't do this!" and this was what she was seeing, not a scared girl, but a Dalek who was attacking them, this was what made her the Predator, she only saw a Dalek, "Star, please!" he begged, needing her back…he looked back at the Dalek Oswin, "Oswin! Oswin!" he tried to get through to her, before turning back to Star as the wall kept up, _"NOVA! Please, come back to me…"_he rested his head against hers, as he called to her in Gallifreyan, _"Please…"_ he pulled back feeling her blink and the wall fade away as she shook her head. He hugged her tightly, close to tears, he was close to loosing her, too close. he thought for a second that he had seen the orange energy of regeneration, he had be terrified that she would regenerate again.

"Exterminate!" Oswin cried, pulling them both back to look at her…and then she trailed off and they heard robotic sobbing..."Why do they hate you so much? They hate you so much. Why?"

"We have fought them. Many, many times. Me more than Star."

"We have grown stronger in fear of you."

"I know. I tried to stop."

"Then run."

"What did you say?" the Doctor blinked.

"I've taken down the force-field. The Daleks above have begun their attacks. Run!"

The door behind them reopened.

"Oswin? Are you…"

"I am Oswin Oswald." She stated, "I fought the Daleks. And I AM…human. Remember me."

"Thank you!" the Doctor told her, sincerely.

"Run!"

The Doctor took Stars hand and pulled her off.

"Run, you clever boy, you insane girl and remember…"

They ran through the explosions that hit and back to the teleport room to see Amy and Rory kissing passionately.

"Right, go, lets go!" the Doctor shouted, "We're good, lets go! Oh, for gods sake!"

Star grabbed the control from Rory as they continued kissing and hit it…

~.~

The Doctor grinned as they arrived in the TARDIS console room, "you know," the Doctor called into the speakers, "you guys should really have seen this coming. Thing about Star and teleports, she has a good aim," he winked at her as she gave a small, forced smile, "pin-point accurate, in fact. Or to put it another way…" he stepped outside, "Suckers!"

"Identify yourself!" the Daleks cried, "Identify! Identify!"

He blinked, "Well, it's me! You know me! The Doctor! The Oncoming storm?"

"And Star." she stepped out aswell, "the Predator?"

"Titles are not meaningful in this context." Darla frowned, "Doctor who?"

"Doctor who?" the Minster agreed.

"Doctor who?" the white Dalek also cried.

"Oh, Oswin," Star gave a small genuine smile, "You did it to them all! You are brilliant!"

"DOCTOR WHO?" The Daleks continued, "DOCTOR WHO?"

"Fellas," the Doctor smirked, "you're never going to stop asking." He closed the door behind them and dematerialised. The Ponds still kissing.

~.~

The Doctor spun around the console as Star sat on the jump seat after they dropped the Ponds of back home, and happily married.

"Doctor who!" he cheered, "Doctor who! Doc! Tor! Who!" he turned to Star grinned but it faded seeing her looked at the ground, "What's wrong?"

"I lost control," she admitted quietly.

"Nova…" he moved to hug her but she got up and moved around the console, avoiding his eyes.

"I've never done that before. I didn't even realise I was doing it until you snapped me out of it."

"And I'll always be there to snap you out of it."

"But what if you're not?" her eyes shot up to look at him, "What if you're not there and I lose control and hurt Amy or Rory or an innocent person…or you."

"You know that'll never happen."

"How can you be sure?"

"Nova…" he placed his hands on he shoulders, but she looked away, "You are stronger than that. Nova, look at me," she looked at him, "You are not a monster."

She pulled away from his grip and headed to the stairs, "I didn't say I was a monster." And walked off.

The Doctor winced, rubbing his face. The way he said that…she now thought that he thought she was a monster, but she wasn't. She really wasn't…she'd never be a monster.


	3. Dinosaurs on a spaceship

Star was in the console preparing for dematerialising as soon as the Doctor got back.

She glanced up to see the Doctor running in with Queen Nefertiti behind him. Who stopped and looked around the bigger in the inside box.

It was 1334Bc, they'd gone to help the Egyptian queen deal with some trouble, well more the Doctor had. Star had stayed in the TARDIS for 2 reasons. 1: the Doctor wanted her too, 2: she was still worried about what happened on the Asylum. She had quickly gone back to her cheery, hyper self, much to the Doctor relief but she was still worried, but she was still worried, she'd never done that before.

"What happened?" she sighed, as he ran behind her as though using her as a shield from the queen.

"Keep her away from me!" he cried, pointing at her.

"Did she kiss you?"

"Little bit, yeah."

"Daddy...I will kill you." she glanced over at Nefertiti as she pursed he lips.

He pulled out the psychic paper and showed it to her, "This is for us."

She took it and looked closer, and grinned, Ooh! Let's go!" they ran to the console, ignoring the Egyptian queen who huffed and grabbed the railing to stop herself from falling.

~.~

The Doctor and Star stood before a screen in a Military HQ on Earth in 2367, a lovely Indian woman, Indira, explaining the situation. On the screen was a ship heading for Earth.

"Craft size approximately 10 million square kilometres," she explained to them.

"A ship the size of Canada," the Doctor murmured, "coming at Earth fast. Any signs of life?"

"We sent up a drone craft, it took these readings."

The Doctor bent over to read the readings, "Crikey Charlie, look at that! Ooh I knowing someone who'd love a look."

"And the Ponds!" Star cheered. "Cant forget the Ponds! We haven't seen them in ages! We need to go get them. They wouldn't want to miss this." she blinked and looked at Indira and Nefertiti "Sorry, rambling." He turned to the Doctor, "Why aren't you stopping my ramblings?"

He just smiled at her, "I love your ramblings."

"Can you communicate with this craft?" Nefertiti asked.

"She's with us. Good question, Neffy."

"No." Indira sighed, "No response on any channel in any recognised language. If it comes with 10,000 kilometres of Earth, we send up missiles."

"Oh, Indira," the Doctor frowned, "I like you before you said missiles. How long till the ship gets that close?"

"6 hours, 19 minutes."

"Right, better get a shift then! Leave it with us. Come on then, Neffy! We're going to need help." He grabbed Stars hand and they ran to the TARDIS leaving Nefertiti to follow.

~.~

In the African Plains, 1902, a lone hunter sat at his campsite eating his diner.

"Roar!" Star jumped out, doing her best lion impression, making the man jump and grab his gun, aiming it before glaring at Star.

She giggled and the Doctor smirked at him, "More stew?" he asked sitting next to John Riddell.

"Where have you been?" Riddell demanded, "7 months! You were popping out for some liquorice! I had 2 very disappointed dances on my hands! Not that I couldn't manage."

"Riddell!" Star cut in, kneeling right in his face, not bothering about his personal space, "we've found…something!"

"No, no, no, no, no, no. I shan't fall for that again," he paused seeing her pouting at him, "What is it?"  
>"No idea!" she grabbed his hand and pulled him up, "Let's go find out!"<p>

~.~

Star stood watching the Doctor, amused as he materialised around the Ponds in their living room. Oh, Amy will kill him! She'd checked the monitor moments ago, just to ensure they were home and weren't…occupied. They weren't, but they were busy changing a bulb on a ladder with Rory's dad, Brian, if she was correct.

"Hello!" the Doctor greeted, dematerialising again, "You weren't busy, were you? Well, even if you were, it wasn't as interesting as this probably is. Didn't want you to miss that. Star missed you. Now, just a quick hop. Everyone grab a torch!"

Amy and Rory quickly went to get one as Star and the Doctor headed out.

Brian dropped the bulb.

~.~

The Doctor scanned around as everyone stepped out.

"Spiders," Star tilted her head, looking at a spider in a web, "Don't normally get spiders in space."  
>"What's the…?" Brian gaped.<p>

"Don't move!" the Doctor strode over to the man, "d'you really thing im that stupid I wouldn't notice?" he spun to Star as she laughed, "don't answer that!" and then back to Brian, "how did you get aboard? Transmat? Who sent you?"

"Doctor…" Rory stepped over to him, "That's my dad."

He turned to Rory, "well, frankly, that's outrageous."

"What?"

"You think you can bring your dad along without asking? Im not a taxi service, you know?"

"You materialised around us!"

"Oh, well, that's fine then, Stars mistake."

Star frowned, "Why's it my fault."

"You didn't tell me." He flicked her nose.

"You didn't listen."

He stuck her tongue out at her and moved the shake Brains hand, "Brain, how are you?" yes, he recognised him from the wedding now, "Nice to meet you. Welcome, welcome!" he spun around, "this is the gang. I've got a gang, yes! Come on then, everyone!" he walked off down the corridor.

"Hello again." Star waved to Brain, "Long time since the wedding. Im Star."

Brain blinked at her, the Star he remembered was blonde, "No you're not."

She winced. "Oh! Yes, the regeneration! New face! Hello!" she waved again and skipped off to catch up with the Doctor.

"Tell him something, quick." Amy hissed to Rory before following Star.

Star caught up with Doctor as there was a loud thudding and the ship shook around them.

"Alright, where are we and what was that noise?" Amy called catching up with them, "And hello 10 months!"

"Orbiting Earth," the Doctor stated, "well, I say orbiting, more like pre-crashing on a spaceship, don't know and hello, Pond," he hugged her, "10 months, time flies. Never really understood that phrase. This is Neffy, this is Riddell. They're with us."

"Neffy tried to seduce him," Star accused.  
>"She came onto me!" He cried, "I tried to get away from her!"<p>

Amy shook her head, "with you? They're with you, are they the new us? Is that why we haven't seen you?"

"No, they're just people!" Star insisted, "They're not Ponds!"

"I thought we might need a gang," the Doctor agreed, "not really had a gang before, it's new."

They heard a grinding gears of a lift as it came down to their level, "it's coming down," the Doctor murmured.

"What is it?" Riddell frowned.

"No idea!" Star grinned, but they did have a small idea of what it was but they need confirmation, which they got when the lift open and two Ankylosaurus standing within.

"Not possible!" Brain breathed.

"Run!" the Doctor yelled and they all ran off, except the Time Lords.

"Doctor!" Amy huffed, running back to them, "Star!"

"Dinosaurs!" Star squealed. Dinosaurs were SO cool.

"On a spaceship!" the Doctor grinned.

Amy tugged them to move as the dinosaurs roared and stepped out of the lift. They caught up to the group as Nefertiti called; "In here!" they ducked into a narrow niche in the side. The Doctor sliding to a stop, he put a finger to his lips, silencing them, as the dinosaurs roared and stomped down the corridor closer to them.

"I could take one of them," Riddell whispered, taking out a large knife, "Short blow, up into the throat."

"But…we've found dinosaurs." Star frowned.

"Exactly," the Doctor nodded, "we've just found dinosaurs, in space. We need to preserve them."

"And who's going to preserve us?"

"Me." Star said simply.

"Don't be ridiculous." He scoffed, ignoring the Doctor silently telling him to stop.

Star got right into his face, a threatening look in her 'dark eyes', "Wanna bet?"

Amy shushed them and they quieted, Star stepping away from the man who looked slightly afraid of the girl.

They crept back into the corridor as the dinosaurs pasted them, swinging their tails.

"Ok," Rory began, "So, how? And whose ship?"

"There's so much to discover." The Doctor smiled, "Think how much wiser will be by then end of all this."

"Sorry, sorry," Brian stepped up to him, "Are you saying dinosaurs are flying a spaceship?"

"Don't be silly, Brain!" Star giggled, "That's ridiculous. They're just passengers."

The Doctor nodded, "did I mention missiles?"  
>"Missiles?!" Brain gasped.<p>

"Didn't want to worry you." the Doctor winced, "Anyway, 6 hours is a lifetime…literally a lifetime, that's what we're trying to avoid. And we're all really clever! Let's see what we can find out. Come on." He took Stars hand and they continued on until the spotted a room filled with banks of equipment overgrown with vines and covered in spider webs. Star grinned and ran to a computer she spotted, she grimaced as she saw a spider web on the screen and swiped the Doctors arm across it, clearing the webs away.

"Eurgh!" he grimaced, "thanks for that." He wiped his arm on Brain.

"How many dinosaurs do you think are on here?" Amy wondered.

The Doctor used the sonic on the screen and it came to life. "Oh, well done, whoever you are. Looking for engines." The screen changed, as Rory and Brian came to stand behind him, "thank you, computer. Look at that, different sections have different engines, but these look like the primary clusters."

Star walked off and looked around at the greenery, "So, where are we now?"  
>"We need to get sown to these engines…"<p>

Star blinked at the sudden silence, and sighed, "Daddy disappeared didn't he?" she looked at Amy.

"Yep." Amy nodded.

"What happened?" Nefertiti frowned, looking expectantly at Star.

Star looked at the computer screen, "Engine room…teleport shorted out. We have to walk down. Come on." She turned and ran off.

"Wait up!" Amy called as they ran after her.

~.~

"There are clear more than just two of these creatures." Riddell commented drinking from his flask.

Amy slapped his arm, "Put that away, we need you sober."

"It's medical. And I don't take orders from females."

Star glared at him, "Learn to."

"Any more who speaks to me that way, I execute." Nefertiti shot at him.

"You're very welcome to try." he smirked.

"Gladly!" Star grinned, pulling out her dagger but Amy pulled her away from the man.

"No!" she said, "Don't do that…dagger, threatening thing."

"Oh!" she pouted, putting the dagger in her boot, "face it, John. You're outnumbered."

"Anyway," Amy turned to Nefertiti, "What was your name again?"

"Amy meet Queen Nefertiti and John Riddell."

"Oh my god!" Amy laughed, "Queen Nefertiti! I learn all about you at school. You're awesome! Big fan, high-five!" she held a hand up but Nefertiti just stared at her.

"She doesn't know what a high-five is." Star whispered to Amy but she tensed suddenly, "shh."

Riddell lowered his torch and the beam showed a sleeping T-Rex.

"Baby T-Rex. Aww. I want one."

"I propose a retreat." Riddell remarked, until they heard more dinosaurs from behind them. "Or perhaps forwards."

"Agreed," Amy nodded, "Just don't wake the baby."

Slowly Riddell stepped over the neck of the T-Rex. He stepped on a piece of paper and it rustled. The T-Rex snorted, but luckily didn't awake. He signed in relief before bringing his over leg over. He grinned successfully.

The females looked unimpressed. Nefertiti shaking her head as they continued on.

"Who's he, anyway?" Amy asked Star quietly.

"John Riddell." Riddell introduced hearing her, "Big game hunter on the African plains. Im sure you've heard of me, too."  
>Amy blinked at him, "No."<p>

"You clearly have some alarming gasp in your education."

"Or men who hunt defenceless creatures just don't impact on history."

"Face it," Star smirked, "Neffy's cooler than you. And I scared you earlier."

"No you didn't," he defended, "I knew what you were doing and I went along with it."

She got right into his face again, whispering, "I wasn't talking about mimicking a lion."

"And you, Amy?" Nefertiti cut in, "Are you also a queen?"

"Yes," Amy nodded, "Yes, I am."

"And are you, Star?"

"Im daddy's princess." She corrected, "But I am my own queen."

They entered another computer room with over grown plants and vines.

"Bit of weed killer wouldn't go amiss in here." Amy remarked.

"Whoever was running this vessel left in a hurry," Riddell commented as they made their way through the vines.

"Maybe a plague came and took them." Nefertiti suggested.

"They'd be corpses and bones." Star shook her head.

"Unless the animals ate them."

"Whoa, Chuckles Brothers," Amy cut in, "lighten up, would ya?"

Star grinned and ran ahead of them as she spotted a computer, "Yes!" she cheered, pressing the buttons and the machine turned on.

"How did you know how to do that?" Nefertiti questioned.

"I like pressing buttons…and I'm good." She placed a small sphere she found and placed it on a tray and inserted it into the computer. Where a voice spoke but no picture.

"117 years…" the voice began.

"Data records." Amy realised.

"Ship owners?" Riddell guessed.

"Yup." Star nodded, pressing more buttons.

"…will remain cryogenic…" the voice continued, "I will continue to work…"

Star hit the side of the computer, and the picture came on and a Silurian appeared. "Far beyond our mapping…"

"Ha-ha!" Star cheered.

"It's beautiful." Nefertiti breathed.

"I can't tell how far we have come. Far enough to avoid the destructive impact forecast for our planet. Far enough for me to feel a profound sense of loss."

"What is what?" Riddell grimaced at it.

"Silurian." Amy realised.

"Of the 50 species loaded, only one has had any difficulty in surviving," the Silurian continued, "all the others are thriving and we expect them to be able to repopulate."

"We're on a Silurian ark." Star told them.

"Lizard people herding dinosaurs on to a space ark?" Riddell scoffed, "Absolute tommy-rot."

"Only the idiot denies the evidence of their own eyes." Nefertiti glared at him.

"Egyptian queen or not, I shall put you across my knee and spank you."  
>"Oh, lord." Amy groaned.<p>

"Try and I'll snap your neck in a heartbeat." Nefertiti promised.

"Mm. Well, they certainly bred firecrackers in your time." Riddell smirked.

"Stop flirting!" Star snapped.

"Star is the Doctor's princess. He trusts her, so do I."

"If this ship was build by…" Riddell shook his head, getting back to the topic at hand.

"Silurian's." Star supplied.

"Where are they?"

Amy blinked and looked Star, "Surprisingly…that is a good question." She had to agree with the man.

"Display life signs for homo reptila." Star called to the computer.

The screen showed 'No Life Signs Detected.'

"But where have they gone?" Amy wondered.

"Perhaps they found another world," Nefertiti suggested, "left the ship."

"But why leave the dinosaurs," Star countered.

"And why's the ship heading back to Earth?" Amy frowned.

"It doesn't make sense!" Star crossed her arms in a huff.

"What's changed between now and then?"

"Computer, show me the ship at launch with all life signals." The picture came up, "and show the ship today," the dots blinked out, "thousands less. Show both images side by side." The image changed.

"What are you looking for?" Riddell asked.

"What's changed?" she pointed at the two images, "what happened to the Silurian's?"

Nefertiti pointed at the second image, "the centre."

"Computer, zoom in to the centre." The computer zoomed in, "Oh no."

"What is it?" Riddell squinted at the screen, trying to see what she's spotted.

"Another spaceship. Someone else is onboard."

'_Dad!'_ she called in her mind.

'_Nova!'_ he replied, sounding relieved she was ok. _'Are you ok? Are you hurt?'_

'_Im fine. This is a Silurian ship.'_

'_So where are they then?'_

'_Gone…they've all gone. Thousands of statis pods, all empty.'_

'_I think I know what happened. I'll see you soon.'_

'_Be careful.' _She warned.

'_You too'_

She looked over to see Riddell in a cabinet, finding a rifle. "Now these are what we need, dinosaur protection."

"No weapons!" Amy cried, grabbing the rifle from the man and he handed her a magazine.

"It's a stun gun." Star stated, "Anaesthetic. Almost clever."

"Enough to make a dinosaur take a nap." He nodded, "even you two," he looked at Star, meaning her and the Doctor, "couldn't object to that."

"You and the Doctor," Nefertiti eyed Amy, "Stars his princess, are you his queen?"

"No, no, im Rory's queen. Wife." Amy corrected quickly, "Im his wife. Please don't tell him I said I was his queen, I'll never hear the end of it."

"And the Doctor, does he have a queen?"

"Yes, he does." Star nodded.

"I thought you were his princess."

"But he does have a queen, in sickness and in health, in life and death."

"I thought you had a husband." Amy pointed out.

"Male equivalent of a sleeping potion."

"You clearly need a man of action and excitement." Riddell cut in, "one with a very large weapon." He cocked the rifle and headed for the door.

"So, human sleeping potion or walking innuendo. Take your pick."

The females laughed when Star spotted something, "finally!" she ran to the computer to see the Doctor, Brian and Rory on screen.

"That's very bad indeed." The Doctor was saying, "Completely unhelpful."

Rory peered at the computer, unable to see them as the Doctor pace back and forwards, "Does this ship have any defence systems installed?" he asked.

"Good thinking, Rory!" the Doctor cheered and kissed his mouth.

"Looks like you've got a challenger for Rory, Amy," Star teased.

"Computer," he called, "show us weapons and defence systems. Well that was a waste of time, wasn't it?" he slapped Rory's face, "getting my hopes up like that."

"What ship doesn't have weapons?" Rory shook his head.

"The ancient species. Rory, still full of hope."

"What about the control deck?" Brain asked, "You said we should go to the control deck next."

The Doctor walked away from the computer, "it's too late, it won't make a different."

"We could at least try." Rory argued.  
>"It won't work, Rory. The missiles are locked on."<p>

"So, what? We're just giving up?"  
>"I don't know. I don't know."<p>

There was a flash of light and an old man, dirty and grim appeared with two yellow robots. "You were telling the truth, Doctor." The man remarked, "Earth has launched missiles. This vessel is too clumsy to outrun them, but I have my own ship."

"You won't get your precious cargo on board, though. It'll just be you and your metal tantrum machines."

"We do not have tantrums!" one robot huffed.

"Shut up!" the man shouted, walking to the Doctor with a cane, "You're right, Doctor. I can't keep the dinosaurs and live myself. But I had the IV system scan the entire ship and it found something even more valuable. Utterly unique. I don't know how she survived or why she's here but I want her.

"I don't know what you talking about." The Doctor stiffened, his mind going to Star.

"Earth Queen Nefertiti of Egypt. A face stamped across history. Give her to me and I'll let the rest of you live."

"No." the Doctor stated.

"You think I won't punish those who get in my way? Whatever their worth?"

One of the robots stepped forwards and Star noticed that in the corner of the screen was a Triceratops. The robot shot it and it cried out in pain.

The Doctor ran over and knelt beside the dinosaur and stroked it as it died. He walked back to the man, clapping mockingly, "you must be very proud."

"Bring her to me. Or the robots will make their way through your corpses. Bring her now!"

"No!" the Doctor refused.

"Take me down," Nefertiti called, "I order you, im asking you, take me down."

Star sighed, pressing the teleport button.

~.~

"Star!" the Doctor shouted as they appeared before them, "What are you doing here?!" he ran over to her.

"She asked," she murmured.

"This is my choice," Nefertiti agreed.

"No," she shook her head, approaching the man, "im Star, im a Time Lady, im an insane Time Lady at that."

"Star," the Doctor hissed, "what do you think you're doing?"

"Protecting are friends." She answered, turning back to the man who was smiling at having gotten a Time Lady, "I'll make you a deal, let them all go, Neffy as well, you can have me instead. Deal?"

The man smirked at her, he had heard legends about this girl, the Star of Gallifrey, the Abomination, the Predator of the Daleks, the girl who destroys the universe, whever that legend was true or not it didn't matter. Yes, she would be better than a queen from Earth, "Deal."

"No!" Riddell aimed the rifle at the man, "take her, I shoot you."

"Put it down!" Star huffed, honestly, they think she'd willing go, just like that? "This is my choice."

"Do it, boy." The man challenged. One of the robots stepped forwards and Riddell lowered his weapon. "My bounty increases. And what an extraordinary bounty you are." He reached out to touch her.

"Don't touch me." She shoved his hand away.

He shoved her against the wall, and pressed the sharp end of his cane at her throat, "I like my possessions to have spirit. It means I can have fun breaking them. And I will break you in, with immense pleasure." Star pushed the cane away, "thank you, Doctor. Computer? Take us back to my ship."

In a flash, Star, the man and the robots were teleported away as alarms blared.

~.~

Solomon, as she found out, frowned as he tried to take off in his ship, but couldn't move, "come on, come on," he grunted, "we're not moving." Metal clangs against the ship.

"Oh dear." Star smirked darkly, "looks like daddy magnetised you," she chuckled equally darkly as her smirk, "seems we're not going anywhere."

He glared at her.

~.~

The Doctor teleported on the ship, "Hello! Having trouble leaving?"

"Took you long enough." Star commented, gesturing to the deactivated robots.

"Release my ship, Doctor." Solomon ordered, "or I will kill this precious little object," he held a cane to Stars neck.

Star flashed her 'dark eyes' at the man, he dropped to the floor, finding it suddenly hard to breathe, as he felt like he was being strangled. "I am not your possession," she said, calmly, "and I never will be."

The Doctor sauntered over and bent down to look Solomon in the eyes, "NEVER mess with my daughter. I hope you've learnt that." He walked to the controls.

"What're you doing?" Solomon rasped out.

"Disabling this ships signal and replacing it with the one form the Silurian ship. I send this craft off emitting the signal they're looking for, the missiles will follow." He turned back, "hopefully Silurian ship safe, dinosaurs safe, everybody safe," he looked at his watch; "bit tight for time though, should really be chatting. Star, release him," he grabbed her hand as she blinked and shook her head, the man gasping for breathe,"oh," he paused, "Almost forgot, the thing about missiles, very literal, this is what they latch on to." He set a crystal down and pulled out the sonic, "now one press on this and the ships demagnetised."

"Doctor whatever you want, I can get it for you, whatever object you desire." Solomon begged.

"I've got her with me," he pulled Star closer.

"Didn't the Silurian's beg you to stop?" Star looked down at him with disgust. "Ooh. Look, the missiles." She grinned at the computer screen, "shiny and valuable and yours. Bye bye!" she waved mockingly as the Doctor followed her off the ship.

"You wouldn't leave me, Doctor." Solomon tried to reach out.

The Doctor merely hit the button closing the gate and pressed the sonic, "enjoy your bounty." They left as the ship demagnetised and the missiles hit his ship. Nobody tries to separate them and gets away with it.

~.~

They walked back to the TARDIS hand in hand, Amy, Rory and Brian following, "So, dinosaur drop-off time." He opened the TARDIS doors.

"Actually, we think home for us." Rory corrected.

The Doctor stopped at the words, "ok. Fine. Of course."

"Not forever." Amy promised as Nefertiti and Riddell arrived, "just a couple of months."

"Right, yes. We're pretty busy anyway. I mean, we've got to drop everyone back."  
>"About that," Brain stepped forwards, "can I ask a favour? There's something I want to see."<p>

"Oh…"

~.~

The TARDIS hovered above Earth, Brain sat in the doorway, his feet dangling over the edge, eating a sandwich and sipping tea in a thermos. Amy and Rory looked out behind him. As the Doctor and Star stood at the console, watching them sadly, knowing that one day Amy and Rory would leave forever and it would hurt.


	4. A town called Mercy

The Doctor and Star stood in a sandy, dusty road, arms crossed, mimicking the others stance, as they read the 'Keep Out' sign for an old American western town. The population had been crossed out from 80 to 81.

"Mercy," the Doctor read, "81 residents."

"Look at this," Amy called as she and Rory stood at the side, looking at a line of stones and branches that ringed the town, "It's a load of stones as lumps of wood." the Doctor scanned it with the sonic, "What is it?"

"A load of stones and lumps of wood." he frowned.

Star hopped over the line as the Doctor followed her.

"Er, the sign does say, 'Keep Out'." Rory pointed out.

"I see keep-out signs as suggests more that actual orders. Like dry clean only." he rubbed his hands together and they turned and walked into town, Amy and Rory having little choice but to follow.

"Is that why my other skirt shrunk?" Star tilted her head at him. She asked him to wash it for her and he did so but when she get it back it had shrunk to doll size.

He rubbed the back of his neck, "It...may have been."

"It took my forever to find a similar skirt."

As they walked down the road, they were stared at by the locals as they watched behind doors and windows. One woman pulling a child closer to her. As they walked, one of the street lamps lining the street sparked as they got closer to it.

"That's not right," The Doctor murmured

"It's a street lamp." Rory noted.

"An electric street lamp about 10 year early."

"It's only a few years out."

"That's what you said when you left your phone charger in Henry VII's en-suite." Star countered, giving him a pointed look.

"Right," he winced as the Doctor frowned, "Still cross about that?"

The Doctor gave him a looked clearly showing that, yes, he was still cross about that. It had been a very fun adventure in Stars mind. It had been a nice little romantic weekend for the Ponds, just with the Time Lords also there, so more of a family weekend. Somehow Henry had mistake Star for Catherine of Aragon, (how he thought that was beyond any of them, she looked nothing like any of his wife's.) Then he wanted her beheaded because she'd gotten angry and cause the candles to blow out which resulted in him thinking she was a witch and wanted her beheaded. Luckily they'd gotten out just in time, but Rory had forgotten his phone charger in their room.

"We got out didn't we?" Star smirked at him, recalling the memory.

The Doctor just shook his head at her, she'd been close to getting beheaded but yet she had been calm the whole time, besides getting called a witch, "Anachronistic electricity, keep out sighs, aggressive stares…has someone been peeking at my Christmas list?" he took out a toothpick and put it between his teeth.

"Doctor!" Amy cried as they headed to the saloon, she was getting uncomfortable about all the stares.

The saloon was lively and crowded, a man played the piano as men sat at the tables, drinking and others played poker, the woman chatting away. All that stopped as the Doctor pushed the bat-wing doors open and sauntered over to the bar, everyone watching as Star skipped behind him. He put his hand on the counter, using an American accent, "Tea. But the strong stuff. Leave the bag in," he tried to flip the toothpick put it got stuck, he tried to act like nothing happened as he took it out.

"What you doing here, son?" the female bartender demanded.

"Son?" he chuckled lightly at that, "You can stay."

"Sir," a man in a black suit and white shirt stood up, "might I enquire who you is?"

"Of course," the Doctor smiled, turning around, "im the Doctor, this is my daughter…" all the men stood, "no need to stand," he turned to Amy and Rory, "you see that? Manners." Another man walked up behind him and measured his shoulders, "oh, thank you, but I don't need a new suit."

"Im the undertaker, sir." The man introduced.

"I got a question," a young man stepped forwards, "is you an alien?"

"Well, um…bit personal. Its all relative, isn't it? I mean, Star and I think YOU'RE the aliens. But in this context, yes. Yes, I suppose I am." And that was all the men needed to rush at him and lifted him up, carrying him outside.

"Dad!" Star shouted, rushing out after them. These were humans she wouldn't use her powers on them unless they were going to kill him and then she'd wait till last minute to stop them. And after what's been happening lately, her using it without realising, she knew she was losing control of herself, she couldn't risk it and harming someone.

"Doctor!" Amy struggled as they followed, the men holding them back, "Put him down!"

"Don't think we wont kill you," the man holding her threatened.

"Doctor!" Star yelled.

"Leave her alone!" Rory yelled at the man holding Amy.

"Dad!"

"Don't worry!" the Doctor assured them, "everything is completely under control!"

"Get off me!" Amy fought the man off her.

"Guy! Guys! Oh, dear." The men threw the Doctor over the line; "whoa!" he rolled on the ground. Star nudged the man holding her in the gut, making him let go of her and ran to the Doctor's side.

"Are you ok?" she asked him.

"Im fine," he assured her as she helped him stand. The men drawing their guns at them. The Doctor raised his hand, pulling Star behind him as she also raised her hands.

"He's coming," the Preacher breathed, "oh, god. He's coming."

"Preacher…" a young man whispered, "Say something."

Star looked back feeling something coming up behind them and saw a man in black, in the distance, teleporting and reappearing closer to them with each jump.

"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done…"

The Doctor slowly tried to moved Star back over the line, but the men held their guns up, un-allowing her to come over.

So Star grabbed hold on him and teleported them over the line, behind the crowd. "Rude," she mock-huffed, crossing her arms.

Someone whistled from behind them, they turned to see a man with a 'Marshal' badge, gun out about to stop the crowd as he glared at them, "you wanna tell me what y'all were thinking?"

"Isaac," a young man stepped forwards, "he said he was a doctor…an alien doctor."

"That a reason to hand him to his death? This man is clearly someone's father." He gestured to Star, having heard her yelling for him.

"But, Isaac, it could be him!"

"You know it aint." He turned away, nodding to Star and Amy respectfully, "ma'ams."

The Doctor straightened his bowtie as Star did the same, following Isaac. Amy and Rory behind them.

"Just let him go like that?" a man grumbled.

"Be seeing you, boy." Another called.

~.~

Isaac walked to his desk in his small office that was also the towns jail, he sat at the corner of his desk and looked at the Time Lords and humans as they entered.

"What was that outside?" the Doctor asked him.

"The gunslinger," he sighed, "Showed up 3 weeks back. We've been prisoners ever since. You see that borderline, stretching round the town? Woke up one morning, there it was. Nothing gets past it, in or out. No supply wagons, no reinforcements. Pretty soon, the whole towns going to starve to death."

"But…he let US in." Rory frowned.

"You aint carrying any food, just four more mouths to feed. We'll all die even sooner now."

"What happens if we cross the line?" Star inquired. Isaac threw a Stetson at her as she caught it and poked a finger though the bullet hole, "Warning shot." She passed the hat to the Doctor.

"Ah," he nodded, put his finger through the hole aswell, "no. yes. I see. Hmm." He passed the hat to Rory.

"What does he want?" Amy asked, Rory passing her the hat, "has he issued some kind of demand?" she passed the hat back to Rory who gave it back to the Doctor who threw it back to Isaac.

"He says he want us to give him 'the alien doctor.'" Isaac stated.

"But that's you," Amy looked at the Doctor.

"Why would he want to kill you?" Star wondered, "You haven't met him have you?"

"No." the Doctor shook his head.

"And how could he know we'd be here?" Rory asked, "We didn't even know we'd be here."

"We were aiming for Mexico." Amy informed Isaac.

"I wanted to go to see the Day of the Dead Festival," Star added, "I was craving a sugar skull."

"Mexico's 200 miles due south," Isaac frowned.

The Doctor looked up as the lights flickers, "well, that's what happens when people get toast crumbs on the console. Anyway, I think it's about time we met him, don't you?" he moved to sit on the railing.

"Who?" Isaac tensed.

"The chap outside said I could be the alien doctor, but you said I wasn't. So you already know who it is. Two alien Doctors!"

"One's enough!" Star groaned, "Resident 81, im guessing."

"So beloved by the townsfolk, he warranted an alteration to the sign. Probably because he rigged up these electrics. And im guessing he's in here because if half the town suddenly wanted to throw me to my death…this is where I'd want to be." He hopped of the railing and headed for the cell.

"Hello." Star waved at the man in the cell as he walked to the cell doors from where he had been hiding in the bunk. He was well dressed and had a tattoo along the right side of his face.

"Good afternoon," he greeted, "My name is Kahler-Jex. Im the doctor."

~.~

"Oh my god!" Star squealed, the Doctor trying to hold back his laugher seeing her get more excited by the minute, "one of the most ingenious races in the galaxy. They could build a spaceship out of Tupperware and moss. You're my second favourite species!"

"Second?" Jex blinked.

"Humans come first."

"And you're about to pull his arm off," the Doctor joked, seeing her shaking the man's hand vigorously. Now he understood that people saw him in her. He gently tugged her hand back.

"But…Kahler…just! Eek! Im sorry, im just can't believe im meeting a Kahler!"

"Yeah, that great and all," Amy interrupted, "but how did you get here?"

Jex moved to sit behind Isaac's desk, "my craft crashed about a mile or so out of town. I would have died if Isaac and the others hadn't pulled me from the wreckage."

"And you stayed?" the Doctor smiled, "As their doctor?"

"Oh my world, I was a surgeon, so it seemed logical and it gave me an opportunity to repay my debt to them."

"Listen to him," Isaac laughed, "talking like it was nothing. Tell them about the cholera." He slapped Jex on the back.

"Now, Isaac, im sure our guest aren't…"

"Yes!" Star shouted, "Yes, we are very interested! Spill!"

"2 years after he arrived," Isaac began telling them, "There was an outbreak of Cholera. Thank to the doc here not a single person died."

"A minor infection we'd found a treatment for centuries ago." Jex shrugged them off.

"No, no, no. What do you call them? The lectricks?"

"Using my ships as a generator. I was able to rig up some rudimentary heating and lighting for the town."

"Amazing." Star breathed awe.

"So why does the Gunslinger want you?" the Doctor leaned forwards to ask the question that had been bothering him.

"It don't matter," Isaac looked away.

"I'm just saying. If we knew..."

"Americas a land of second chances. We called this town Mercy for a reason. Others...some round here don't feel that way."

"Now, Isaac, we've discussed this." Jex sighed.

"People whose lives you saved are suddenly saying we should hand you over!"

"They're scared, that's all. You can hardly blame them."

"Them being scared, that scares me, war only ended 5 years back. That old violence is still under the surface. Er, give up Doc Jex, then we're handing the keys of the town over to chaos."

"Were you not able to repair your ship?" Star asked, "Someone as amazing as you..."

"It really was very badly damaged." he avoided her eye. A small frown appeared on Stars face as she looked at the Doctor, both knowing that that was a lie.

"We evacuate the town," the Doctor told them, "Our ships just over the hills. Room for everyone. Star and I'll pop out, bring it back here. Roberts your uncle."

"Really?" Amy scoffed, "Simple as that? No crazy schemes? No negotiations?"

"I've matured. I'm 1,200 years old now. Plus, I don't want to miss 'The Archers.'" he picked up a Stetson and put it on his head and headed for the door.

"Oh, do you're not even a tiny bit curious?"

"Why would we be curious?" Star countered, "It's a mysterious space cowboy assassin. Not curious at all." Amy raised her eyebrows, "Ok! I am." they headed out the door.

"Son?" Isaac called to them, "You've still got to get past the Gunslinger. How you going to do that?"

The Doctor placed the Stetson on Stars head as she laughed, "With a little sleight of hand."

~.~

The Time Lords walked up to the Preacher as he hitched up a horse to a post. "Can we borrow you horse?" he asked getting the reins from the man before he could answer and helping Star on to endure she was safe, before he got in behind her, its official Marshal business." Amy was staying in the office with Jex, keeping an eye on him. Isaac and Rory were to distract the Gunslinger by wearing Jex's coat and hat to buy them time to get out of town.

"He's lovely," Star grinned, patting the horse.

"He's called Joshua," the Preacher smiled, "It's from the Bible. It means 'The Deliverer.'"

The horse neighed, and Star giggled, "No, he isn't."

"What?"

"We speak horse." The Doctor explained, "He's called Susan. And he wants you to respect his life choices." and then they galloped off out off town, down the dirty road.

Until Star called out, "What's that?!" she made Susan stop and neigh, "Yes. I know we're in a hurry but I see something."

She jumped off the horse and rushed off, the Doctor following as she picked up a wire as it ran along the desert.

"Oi, don't swear," the Doctor called as Susan whinnied, "Come on," he grabbed Stars hand, "Let's see where this leads," they ran back to Susan and they followed the line, "Star!" the Doctor shouted as she jumped off Susan as the horse continued moving, even though he was slowing for dismount, "Don't do that! Yes," he called back to the horse, as he snorted, "I wear a Stetson now."

Star headed for the tarp where the line connected too to reveal an egg-shaped white ship beneath it, "Yes," Star nodded as Susan snorted, "Good point, Susan. There is no damage," she looked at the Doctor sadly, knowing the Jex, someone she admired, had lied, "Why would Jex lie?"

"Go back to Susan," he told her as he climbed on top of the pod, "If anything happens, go back to town," he knocked and tapped it to see if it was hollow as Star went to stand by the horse.

He jumped on the pod and slapped it to try and open it before pulling out the sonic. The alarms blared. The Doctor covered his ears, as did Star, Susan whining in discomfort as the door slid open.

The Doctor dropped into the pod, falling into the seat as the computer sprang to life, "Security break. You have 10 seconds to enter the pass-code or this vehicle will self-destruct." the Doctor flashed the sonic at the panel, "Thank you for choosing Abaraxas Security Software. Incinerating intruders for 3 centuries. 9, 8, 7..." the sonic turned the self-destruct off, "Self-destruct over-ridden."

"Awful lot of security for such a small craft," Star frowned as her head poked down the hole.

The Doctor jumped at her voice, "Star! I told you to stay with Susan!"

"Technically I never agreed to that!"

The Doctor grumbled under his breath at that, she had SAID anything to agree to it, but merely went to stand by Susan, neither agreeing or disagreeing with him. He really should have excepted that.

"Awaiting command." the computer announced.

"Tell me everything you can about the Gunslinger." the Doctor called.

"Files not found," Star groaned as the Doctor slumped in the seat, "Please choose from, Technical Specification, Flight Recorder, Personal Files, Maps and Charts."

"Personal files of Doctor Kahler-Jex."

Jex's face appeared in the screen as the text scrolled down, "Names of deceased subjects can be found on the drop-down menu."

Star lifted her head back up and knelt on the sandy road, hearts broken, "No, no, no, no. No!" the Doctor crouched next to her, "Please tell me reading that upside down was a bunch of lies! And you saw something else. You...you saw some good work. He didn't actually murder his own people and turn them into Cyborgs!"

Jex had been experimenting on his own people! No, not experimenting, murdering his own people! Turning them into cyborgs! And the Gunslinger was the last one. And it was...it was just...horrific.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor murmured, she adored Jex, idolised him and to see what he had done...his stiffened hearing a click and looked over to see the Gunslinger, he'd clearly heard the alarms and followed them.

"Don't shoot!" he put one hand up, the other still around Star as she whimpered, "We know. We know who you are! And who Jex is! But why haven't you just walked into the town and killed him?"

The Gunslinger looked at Star before lowering his weapon, "People will get in the way."

"Look, you want justice, you severe justice, but this isn't the way. We can put him on trial, we can..."

The Gunslinger raised his weapon again, "When he starts killing YOUR people, you can use YOUR justice. No more warning shots. I'll kill the next person to step over that line. Make sure it's Jex," he warned them before turning and walking away.

"Don't worry, it will be," Star promised. Oh, how she wanted to kill him herself. After her excitement to meet the man, it now disgusted her to know she was excited to meet a man who had done something as horrible as that.

~.~

Star ran into Isaacs's office and lunged at Jex, "How could you!" she yelled at him, "How dare you lie! I admired you, I idolised you! You monster! You...you murderer!"

"I'm sorry?" Jex blinked.

"SIT DOWN!" he quickly sat, "Tell them. Tell them what you are."

"What I am? A war hero."

"Ok," Isaac frowned at how Star was acting, "Somebody want to tell me what's going in?"

"The Gunslinger is a cyborg." the Doctor informed them as he pulled Star away from Jex as she looked like she was going to destroy him.

"A what?"

"Half man, half machine. A weapon. Jex built it. He and his team took volunteers, told them they'd be selected for special training, then experimenting on them, fused their bodies with weaponry an programmed them to kill!"

"Ok, why?" Isaac turned to Jex, "Why would you do that, Jex?"

"We've been a war for 9 years," Jex defended, "A war this had already decimated half of our planet. Our task was to bring peace, and we did. We built an army that routed the enemy and ended the war in les than a week. Do you want me to repent? To beg forgiveness for saving millions of lives?!"

"How many died screaming on the operating table before you had FOUND your advantage?!" Star roared in Jex's face.

This reminded her of the Time War, how the High Council had forced all the children still in the Academy to regenerate, tortured them in hope of them become the soldiers they needed to win, that's how desperate they were. Not everyone survived the regeneration and even then some were forced to regenerate again because they weren't the solders the High Council wanted.

"War is another world." Jex continued, "You cannot app the politic of peace to what I did, to what any of us did."

Star was about to lunge at him again when the Doctor pulled her over to a barrel near the door, keeping her away from Jex before she really did kill him.

"But what happened then?" Rory frowned, "How come you're here?"

"When the war ended, we had the cyborgs decommissioned. But one of them must have got its circuitry damaged in battle. It went offline and began hunting down the team that created it, until just two of us were left. We fled and our ships crashed here."

The Doctor closed his eyes and took a breath, "Are you ok?" he whispered to Star.

"No," she admitted quietly, "I still see him murdering them. Hearing them scream on the operating tables..."

"I know."

"He was a Kahler..."

"I know."

"Doctor, tell him!" Amy called, snapping them back to their conversation.

"Hmm?" he shook his head and saw them all looking at him, waiting for an answer, "Yes. I don't know. Whatever Amy said." he turned to look out the window.

"Looking at you, Doctor," Jex began, "Is like looking into a mirror. Almost. There's rage there, like me. Guilt, like me. Solitude. Everything but the nerve to do what needs to be done. Thank the gods my people weren't relying on you to save them..."

And that got to the Doctor. He lunged at the man, "No. NO!" he grabbed Jex by the shirt and pulled him up, "But these people are!" he pushed him out the door through the streets, "OUT! OUT! OUT!"

Star jumped up and followed, wanting to see this. Isaac, Rory and Amy followed behind as the Doctor led Jex over the line. Grabbing a gun from one of the townsfolk and aiming at him.

Jex held up his hands, "You wouldn't."

He cocked the gun, "I genuinely don't know..." he looked at Star. If she said stop, he'd stop. But she merely stepped closer to him, glaring at Jex.

"Doctor!" Isaac tried, "Doctor."

...and then another gun went off and Amy held a gun in the air before aiming it at the Doctor. "Let him come back, Doctor!" she threatened.

"Or what?" the Doctor scoffed, "You won't shoot me, Amy!"

"How do you know? Maybe I've changed." she cocked the gun. "You've clearly been taking stupid lessons since I saw you last." she waved the gun around and accidentally shot the ground, "I didn't mean that!" she shot the ground again.

"Ok," Isaac cut in, "Everyone who isn't an American, drop your gun!"

Star stormed off to Amy as she lowered her gun, "You didn't see what he did Amy," she said to the girl quietly, "We could end this. Right now."

"This is not how we roll," Amy argued, "And you know it. What's happened to you? When did killing someone become an option?"

"Amy please..." she looked away.

"Jex HAS to answer for his crimes." the Doctor called.

"And then what?" Amy countered, "You're going to hunt down everyone who's used a gun, a bullet or a bomb?"

"They keep coming back, don't you see?" the Doctor walked over, "Every time I negotiate, I try to understand. Well, not today! No! Today I honour the victims first! His, the Master's, the Dalek's, all the people who died of MY MERCY!"

"See, this is what happens when you travel alone for too long. Well, listen to me, we can't be like him. We have to be better than him."

"Amelia Pond," the Doctor sighed, "Fine. Fine..." he turned back to Jex, "We think of something else." he handed the gun back to the man.

"Im betting on the Gunslinger." Star muttered, glaring at Jex.

The Doctor held out a hand to Jex, waving him back, "Jex, move over the line. Now."

The Gunslinger had been moving closer and closer, and now, he was behind Jex, his gun raised at Jex's head. Jex turned around, "Make peace with your gods," The Gunslinger stated.

"Kahler-Tex, isn't it?" Jex asked, "I remember all your names, even now. Please, I'd never hurt anyone again. I'm even helping people here."

"Last chance. Make peace with your gods." he prepared to fire.

"No!" Isaac pushed himself in front of Jex

"Isaac!" the Doctor and Star ran to him, kneeling next to him as he fell from the shot, "Isaac, Isaac."

"It's be ok, Isaac." Star comforted him.

"We can get you to Jex's surgery, he can save you."

Isaac gripped the Doctor's hand, "Listen to me, you've got to stay, you've got to look after everyone."

"It won't come to that, Isaac."

"Protect Jex. Protect the town," he gasped, "you're both good men...you just forget it sometimes..." and then he took his last breath.

They stood up a moment later. The Doctor pinning the Marshals badge Isaac place in his hand on his lapel.

The Doctor turned to the stunned townsfolk, "Take Jex to his cell. If anything happens to him, you'll have us to answer to."

"Have YOU to answer to." Star corrected, "I don't care what happens to him."

A few men escorted Jex back to his cell.

"This has gone on long enough," the Doctor remarked, turning to the Gunslinger.

"You are right," the Gunslinger aimed his gun at the Doctor, "you've got until noon tomorrow. Give him to me, or I'll kill you all." he turned and teleported away.

The Doctor sighed and turned back at the townsfolk.

"Oh my god," Amy gasped, "you're the Marshal."

"Yeah," he looked at star, "And you're the deputy."

"I hope you're happy, Amy." She commented to the girl, "Jex is still alive. But for how long..." and with that she headed off to keep an eye of Jex in his cell.

~.~

That night Jex stood in his cell, the Doctor standing just outside as Star sat next to him, staring at Jex with utter hatred, wishing he was dead, the Doctor had an arm around her, the only thing keeping her from killing him right now. Amy and Rory sat at the desk when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" the Doctor called, eyes locked on Star.

The Preacher entered and removed his hat, "Marshal..." he greeted, "Deputy. Ma'am. Fella. You need to come outside."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Just come outside. And you should put that on." he nodded to the holster hanging on a hook.

"Stay here," he whispered to Star as he stood up.

"No." she also stood up, "I'm not staying in here with him."

The Doctor frowned as he put the holster on and they all stepped out into the porch. A large group of the townsfolk stood in the street.

"What's going on?" he asked, hooking his thumb over his belt.

The young man from earlier stepped forwards, "He in there? Leave the keys and take your daughter for a walk. Time you get back, this'll be done."

"I promised Isaac I'd protect him."

"Protecting him got Isaac dead. Tomorrow it's going to get us all dead."

"We thought Isaac was right to fight," another man spoke up. "But it's different now. We've got to say 'Alright, we lost,' and give that thing what it wants."

"What it wants is to kill our friend!" the bartender shouted.

"Look, we don't got ill feelin' toward the doc," the young man turned to her, "We just thinking 'bout our families. Hand him over and we all safe again."

The Doctor sighed, "You know I can't do that."

"Then we got us a problem." the young man pushed his coat back to reveal his own holster with a gun.

The Doctor lifted his jacket to show his gun, "Please don't do this."

"Why? Reckon you quicker than me?"

"Almost certainly not." Star was the quick one, but he wouldn't let her touch the gun, "But this, lynch mobs, the town turning against itself, this is everything Isaac didn't want."

The young man drew out his gun, "How old are you?" Star tilted her head at him.

"Nearly 19." he answered.

"So you're 18. Never shot anyone have you?"

He cocked his gun at them, "First time for everything."

Star flashed her eyes as knocked the gun out if his hand, "I have and let me tell you. It's not fun and it isn't nice and it slowly corrodes you and you can't go back from it."

"That's how it started," the Doctor agreed, "Jex turned someone into a weapon. Not that same story is going to make you a killer too. Don't you see? Violence doesn't end violence, it extends it. I don't think you want to do this. I don't think you want to become that man."

"There's kids here," the young man pointed out.

"I know, who I can save, if you'll let me" the Doctor wrapped his arm around Star.

"He really worth the risk?"

"Not at all," Star answered honestly, "I would gladly ensure the Gunslinger was able to kill him and watch him gladly, but you are."

The young man turned and walked off, picking up his gun on the way, followed by most of the men. The rest of the crowd drifted off.

"You ok?" the Doctor whispered to her.

"Frightened people," she gave a small smile, "I'd rather take on a Dalek."

He grinned at her, flicking her nose, leading her past Amy and Rory, back into the Marshals office.

He glanced at Jex as he took the holster off. When the Undertaker entered with took steaming cups of coffee, "Fresh coffee, Marshal, Deputy. For what it's worth, I know you're going to save us. Isaac made you Marshal for a reason, and if you're good enough for him, you're good enough for me. Reckon you should know that."

The Doctor held up his cup, toasting with Star, "Thank you," he sipped it before setting it down, leaning on the rail...until the Undertaker began measuring his shoulders, "Oi! Get out of it!" the Doctor took of the Stetson and rubbed his forehead as the Undertaker left.

"Let me guess," Jex called, "The good folk of Mercy wanted me to take a little stroll into the desert. You could turn a blind eye. No one would blame you. You'd be a hero."

"But I can't can I?" The Doctor strode over to the cell, Star leaning against the railing, keeping back, glaring at him. "Because then Isaacs death would mean nothing! Just another casualty in your endless, bloody war!" Jex lied back on his bunk, "Do you want me to hand you over?! Is that what you want?! Do you even know?!" he turned away in frustration.

"You think I'm unaffected by what I did? That I don't hear them screaming every time I close my eyes? It would be so much simpler if I was just one thing, wouldn't it? The mad scientist who made that killing machine, or the physician who has dedicated his life to serving this town. The fact that I'm both bewilders you."

"We know exactly what you are!" Star snapped.

"We see this information for what it really is." the Doctor nodded, "You committed an atrocity and chose this as your punishment." he began to pace, "Don't get me wrong, good choice. Civilised hours, lots of adulteration, nice weather. But, BUT, justice doesn't work like that. You don't get to decide when and how your debt is paid!" he sighed and went to leaned next to Star.

Jex sat back up on his bunk, "In my culture, we believe that when you die your spirit has to climb a mountain, carrying the souls of everyone you wronged in your lifetime. Imagine the weight I will have to lift," the Doctor faced him and walked back over, "The monsters I created, the people they killed. Isaac. He was my friend. Now his soul will be in my arms, too. Can you see now why I fear death? You want to hand me over. There's no shame in that. But you won't. We all carry out prisons with us. Mine is my past, yours is you morality." he lied back down.

"We all carry our prisons with us." he mocked.

~.~

The next day at noon, the Doctor and Star stood in the centre of town, in front of the bank. He cracked his neck as the clock moved closer to noon.

A loud displacement of air let everyone know the Gunslinger had arrived.

They waited until the man had reached them. The Doctor quickly whipped out the sonic and held it high above his head, causing the Gunslinger to groan and hunch forwards as the windows smashed. He began shoot wildly as Star grabbed the Doctor hand, the two disappearing, the Gunslinger looking around for is target.

They reappeared a few feet away, covered and out of sight, "Good job," the Doctor flicked Stars nose, knowing she just wanted it to be over with.

"Let's go," she took his hand as they ran to the saloon, where the bartender painted the tattoo similar to Jex's painted on his face, they turned hearing an explosion and screaming.

They ran out of the saloon to see Jex hesitating, Amy being tasked to let him out.

"Leave!" Star shouted to him.

"Go! Just go!" the Doctor ushered him on, "we can't save them while you're here." They ran to the church as Jex ran to the desert.

They waited, watching the Gunslinger. Thankfully no one had been hurt. They heard the Gunslinger deactivate automatic targeting and switch to manual. That was when they ran out.

"Where is he?" the Gunslinger demanded, aiming his gun at them.

"He's gone," Star told him.

"WHERE?" they stayed silent, "ANSWER ME!"

"Away from here," the Doctor stepped in front of Star, "look up. Any second now you'll see the vapour trail of his ship. This is their home, not the backdrop for your revenge! Look up. Go after him; take this battle away from…"

He was cut off by a loud radio feedback before Jex's voice came on the speakers in the street lamps, "Kahler-Tex. Kahler-Tex."

"Jex…?" the Gunslinger looked around, "coward! Where are you?!"  
>"I'm in my ship."<p>

"Jex, what are you doing?" the Doctor cried, "Just GO!"

"Where are you from? Where on Kahler?"

"Now?" Star huffed, "really, now? You're asking NOW?!"

"Gabrean." The Gunslinger answered.

"I know it." Jex sighed, "It's beautiful there. When this is over, will you go back?"

"How can I? I am a monster now."

"So am I."

"Just go!" the Doctor shouted, "finish this!"

"I will find you," the Gunslinger warned, "If I have to tear this universe apart, I will find you."

"I don't doubt that," Jex said quietly, "you'll chase me to another planet…and another race will be caught in the crossfire."

"THEN FACE ME! FACE ME!"

"No. you've killed enough. Im ending the war for you, too."

"What's going on?" the Doctor tensed, hearing a quiet countdown, "That countdown! What's going on! JEX!"

"Jex!" Star yelled, "What are you doing?!"

"Thank you, Doctor. Thank you, Star." Jex called, "But I have to face the souls of those I wronged. Perhaps they will be kind."

And then there was an explosion and in the desert they could see smoke rise.

The Gunslinger sighed and hung his head, "he behaved with honour at the end. Maybe more than me."

"We could take you back to your world," the Doctor turned to him, "you could help with the reconstruction."

The Gunslinger walked away, the Time Lords following, "I will walk into the desert and self-destruct. I am a creature of war. I have no role to play during peace."

"Except maybe to protect it?" Star suggested as Amy, Rory and the townsfolk came back out on the street.

The Gunslinger stopped.

"We're not staying here. The town will need a new Marshal."

"Ok," the Doctor cheered as they exited the saloon later that day, "so, our next trip. You know all the monkeys and dogs they sent into space in the 50's and 60's? You'll never guess what really happened to them!"

"But what about the Day of the dead?" Star pouted, "I was promised a sugar skull."

"Right. Yes. Day of the dead. Yes."  
>"Could we leave it a while?" Amy cut in, "our friends will start noticing that we're ageing faster than them."<p>

"Another time," the Doctor nodded, "No worries!" he clapped his hands together.

"Come on." Star led them inside the TARDIS, "I need that sugar skull."

"You're already hyper without all that sugar."

"Says the man who loves the pink marshmallows full of E numbers."


	5. The power of three

The Doctor and Star ran around the console, they'd picked up an odd energy signal from Earth, well actually lots and lots of very small energy signals and were very curious as to what they were.

They ran out of the TARDIS in a small children play park and looked around, frowning at the many black cubes scattering the ground.

The Doctor soniced them, nodding that they seemed safe enough to touch.

Star climbed onto the top of the jungle gym and the Doctor sat back to back with her, looking at another cube and pulled out a magnifying glass. Star looked across the street to see Rory's dad, Brian ringing the ponds doorbell. It was early, too early for Amy to want to be woken up. This was not going to be pretty.

Moments later Amy and Rory poked their head out of the window, but she couldn't hear what they were saying, she noticed Amy had spotted them and waved.

~.~

"Doctor! Star!" Amy called as they came over to them.

"Invasion of the very small cubes." The Doctor remarked, "That's new."

~.~

The group stood in the TARDIS as the Doctor continued examining the cube as Star flicked through the channels on the monitor, listening to the news reports, well not really listening, more just flicking through the channels, not paying attention as she was admiring the cubes, with curiosity and confusion,

"All absolutely identical." The Doctor stated, "Not a single molecule's difference between them. No blemishes, imperfections, individualities."

"What if they're bombs?" Brian asked, "Billions of tiny bombs. Or transport capsules, maybe, with a minirobot inside. Or deadly hard drives. Or alien eggs. Or messages needing decoding. Maybe they're all parts of a bigger whole. Jigsaw puzzles that need fitting together."

"Very thorough, Brain." The Doctor nodded, "very, very thorough. Well done. Stay here. Watch these." He gave the man his cube, "yell if anything happens." He added, walking towards the doors with Star.

"Doctor," Amy followed them, "Is this an alien invasion? Because that's what it feels like?"

"There couldn't be life forms in every cube, could there?" Rory frowned, coming over.

"We don't know," the Doctor admitted, "and we really don't like not knowing."

"It's annoying." Star pouted.

"Right, need you use your kitchen as a lab," they walked out of the TARDIS that was now parked in their living room. "Cook up some cubes, see what happens."

"Right," Rory checked his watch, "Im due at work."

"What? You've got a job?"  
>"Yeah, of course I've got a job. What do you think we do when we not with you?"<p>

"We just assume it's mostly kissing," Star giggled.

Amy shook her head at them, "I write articles for magazines and Rory heals the sick."

"My shift starts in an hour." Rory added, "You don't know where my scrubs are?"

"In the lounge, where you left them."

"Come on," Star headed back to the kitchen, "lets find out what these cubes are." She jumped on the kitchen counter, her legs dangling over the edge.

"Ehh, the Ponds," the Doctor smiled, "with their house and their jobs and their everyday lives. The journalist and the nurse. Long way from Leadworth."

"We think it's been 10 years," Amy sighed, "not for you or Earth, but for us. 10 years older, 10 years of you two. On and off."

"Look at you now. All grown up."

They were interrupted for what could have been a touching moment by the front door bursting open and soldiers rushing into the house, wearing black uniforms and red caps, gun in hands.

"Trap 1," a solider reported, "kitchen secured."

"Trap 3," anther called into the radio, "back garden secured."

"There are soldiers all over my house," Rory grumbled as he was led into the kitchen, "and im in my pants."

Star burst into a fit of giggled, almost falling off the counter if the Doctor hadn't been standing nearby for her to grab onto.

"My whole life I've dreamed of saying that," Amy smirked, "and I miss it by being someone else."

"All these muscles," a woman called, a voice slightly deep, "and they still don't know how to knock. Sorry about the raucous entrance. Spike in Artron energy reading at this address. In the light of the last 24 hours, we had to check it out and, uh, the dogs do love a runout. Hello, Kate Stewart, head of scientific research at UNIT. And with dress sense like that…" she held a scanner in front of the Doctors chest before repeating on Star, the girl finally stopping the laughing fit, "You must be the Doctor and Star. I hope it was you."

"Tell me, since when did science run the military, Kate?" the Doctor asked her.

"Since me. UNIT's been adapting. Well, I dragged them along, kicking and screaming, which made it sound like more fun that it actually was."

"What do we know about these cubes?"  
>Kate walked further into the kitchen, "Far less than we need to. We've been freighting them in from around the world for testing. So far, we've subjected them to temperatures of 200 degrees Celsius, simulated a water depth of 5 miles, dropped one out of a helicopter at 10,000 feet and rolled our best tank over it. Always intact."<p>

"That's impressive," the Doctor whistled.

"But we don't what them impressive," Star pouted.

"We want them vulnerable," he agreed, "with a nice Achilles' heel."

"We don't know how they got here, what they're made of, or why they're here." Kate shook her head.

"And all around the world, people are picking them up and taking them home," the Doctor nodded, solemn.

"Like IPads have dropped out of the sky. Taking them to work, taking pictures, making films, posting them on Flickr and Youtube. Within 3 hours, the cubes had 1,000 separate Twitter accounts."

"Twitter." Star crunched up her nose in disgust.

"I've recommended we treat this as a hostile incursion. Gather them all up and lock them in a secure facility, but that would take massive international agreement and cooperation."

"We need evidence." The Doctor stated, "The cubes arrived in plain sight, in vast quantities, as the sun rose. So what does that tell us?"

"Maybe they wanted to be seen, noticed." Amy reasoned.

"Well, more than that. They want to be observed. So we observe them. Stay with them, round the clock. Watch the cubes. Days and night. Record absolutely everything about them. Team cube, in it together" he high-fived Star who already had her hand up, expecting it.

~.~

The Doctor laid upside-down on the sofa between Amy and Rory staring at the cubes. Star was sleeping on the small armchair at the side.

"Four days," the Doctor mumbled, "nothing! Nothing! Not a single change in any cube, anywhere in the world. Four days! And im still in your lounge!"

"You were the one who wanted to observe them." Amy mocked him quietly, so not to wake Star up. Not that she would, that girl was a VERY deep sleeper.

"Yes, well, I thought they'd do something, didn't I? not just sit there while everyone eats endless cereal!" he stood up and paced in front of them.

"You said we had to be patient." Rory reminded him.

"Yes, you, you! Not me!" he groaned, "I hate being patient! Patience is for whimps!" he sat back down, "I cant live like this. Don't make me. I need to be busy."

"Fine!" Amy snapped, "Be busy! We'll watch the cubes!"

"Huh?!" Star awoke in the chair, hearing Amy snapping, seeing the Doctor hurrying outside, "Cubes done anything?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

"Nope."

"Ok," she readjusted her position and leaned her head off the arm rest and went back to sleep.

~.~

The Doctor returned an hour later and jumped into his place on the sofa between the Ponds, "that's better. Nothing like a bit of activity to pass the time. How long was I gone?"

"An hour," Star stated as she brushed through the wild mane that was her hair from her nap.

"I can't do it. no." he jumped up and headed for the TARDIS, leaving Star groaning and chasing after him.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked as she and Rory followed.

"Brian!" the Doctor blinked seeing the man sitting in a folding chair watching the cubes, "you're still here."

"You told me to watch the cubes." He replied.

"Four days ago."  
>"Oh! Doesn't time fly when you're along with your thoughts."<p>

"You can't just leave." Rory argued.

"Yes, we can." the Doctor nodded, "quick jaunt. Restore sanity."

"Hmm. Wondered why I was one of the insane," Star joked, "it's your fault."

"Oi!" he pouted, "ooh! Hey!" he snapped his fingers at the Ponds, "come, if you like."

"They can't just go off like that." Brain cried.

"Cant they? Cant you? That's how it goes, isn't it?"  
>"I've got my job." Rory reminded him, Amy staying silent.<p>

"Oh, yes, Rory. The universe is awaiting, but you have a little job to go to."

"Hey!" Star pointed warningly at him, "it isn't a little job. Not to Rory, its clearly important to him."

"What you do isn't all there is." Rory agreed.

"I never said it was," the Doctor held his hands up in defence, "all right, fine. We'll be back, soon. Monitor the cubes. Call us." He snapped his fingers, "I'll have the TARDIS set to every Earth news feed."

~.~

The months that past were ordinary enough for the Ponds, besides the cubes, they got on with there normal lives, with their jobs and their friends. Calling in every so often to give them information on the cubes. 9 months later and the cubes were classified as provisionally safe.

The Ponds however weren't quite as safe as they anniversary rolled around the Doctor and Star turned up to show their congratulations and to whisk them away for a few adventures as a gift. They'd taken them to the Savoy Hotel the night it opened, but that didn't go so well as they found out that there was a Zygon ship under the hotel and half the staff were impostors...

So they had gone for a few more trips. And then Amy accidentally agreed to marry King Henry the VIII. It was then that they decided it would be safer to go back to present day.

And there they were standing in the Ponds back garden watching as Amy and Rory toasted with their friends. The Doctor smiled and Star leaned her head on his shoulder.

"How long where they away?" Brain walked over to them.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Brain." The Doctor tried to defend.

"Because they're wearing totally different clothes from earlier."

"7 weeks," Star blinked, "we got sidetracked. A lot."

"What happened to the other people who travelled with you?" Brain wondered. This was his son, he could be gone for only minutes but he could be on Earth fretting and worried about him wondering if something had happened to him and Amy, never finding out. He just…he wanted to know that his son and his daughter-in-law would be safe.

"Uh, some left, some got left behind, and some, not many, but some died." The Doctor answered honestly after a moment, thinking back to his old and still loved companions, "not them. Not them, Brian. Never them."

~.~

Later that day, once the party was over they had asked the Ponds whether they could stay with them.

~.~

And stay they did. The, small group, well more the small family, sat on the sofa in the living room eating fish fingers and custard while watching TV.

"If I had a restaurant," the Doctor began, his mouth full of fish fingers, "this would be all I'd serve."

"Yeah, right," Amy scoffed "you, running a restaurant."

"I've run restaurant. Who do you think invented the Yorkshire pudding?"

"You didn't." Rory gaped.

"Pudding, yet savoury. Sound familiar?"  
>"He was trying to make me pancakes." Star told them.<p>

Only the Doctor could turn and pancake into a Yorkshire pudding but it was the same mixture.

~.~

"Ha-ha!" Star cheered, as she and the Doctor had a game of tennis on the Wii, "second set to Nova!"

"Third set decider." The Doctor pointed his controller at her, "come on, then," they turned back to the screen…only to see a cube hovering in front of the screen.

"Oh come on!" Star groaned, "We were having fun!"

"Whatever you are," the Doctor leaned closer to the cube, "this planet, these people, are precious to us. And we will defend them to our last breaths." He blinked at it, "is that all you can do, hover?"

"I had a metal dog that could do that."

The cube opened, showing the muzzle of a gun,

"Ooh! Ohh, that clever," the Doctor nodded slowly, "what's that?" the cube fired at them, "whew!" they both jumped behind the sofa before they got hit. They ran out of the room as it continued firing.

"Ooh," the Doctor peered around the corner of the room to see the cube now downloading information from the TV, "you really have woken up."

"Doctor!" Rory ran from the kitchen, "Star! Hi. The cube in there, it just opened."

"The cube upstairs just spiked me and took my pulse!" Amy ran down the stairs.

"Really?" the Doctor laughed at that. "Ours fired laser bolts and now its surfing the net!"

Brain closed the door behind him as he entered, "you're never going to believe this. My cube just moved. It rattled."

Rory's mobile ran and he answered it, "hello? Ok, im on my way." He put his phone back in his pocket, "I have to get to work. They need all the help they can get."

"Let me come help out." Brain offered.

"Take your dad to work night, brilliant." He turned to his wife, "ok, are you going to be all right here?"

"Keep away from the cubes." Amy kissed him.

"All right." The men left.

"Tower of London?" Star guessed seeing the Doctor grinning at the psychic paper he pulled out.

"Yes." He laughed.

~.~

The Doctor, Star and Amy stepped out of a car as it pulled up at the Tower of London, to see Kate waiting for them, "Every cube across the whole world activated at the same moment." Kate explained to them as they walked.

"Now we're in business," the Doctor grinned, "you sent me a message to my psychic paper. You know, im almost impressed."

"Secret base beneath the Tower?" Amy frowned, "I hope we're not here because we know too much."

"Yes, I've got officers trained in beheading," Kate nodded, "also, ravens of death." She walked off.

"I like her."

"Yeah." The Doctor agreed.

"Can I have a raven of death?" Star asked. "Please."

"Maybe when you older."

"How much older?"

"1000."

Kate gestured them to follow and led them to a large hall where the cube were being monitors in sealed cubicles. "There are 50 being monitored and more coming in all the time. I don't know ho useful it is. Every cube is behaving individually. There's no meaningful pattern. Some respond to proximity, some create mood swings."

"What's this one?" Amy asked, peering inside at the cube sitting on the table, seeming to do nothing.

"Try the door," Amy open the door and 'the chicken dance' played, "on a loop!" Kate shouted over it. Amy quickly closed the door, "this is the latest." She led them to a large room lined with banks of computer screens.

"Oh, dear," the Doctor frowned at the information, "systems breach at the Pentagon, China, every African nation, the Middle East."

"I've got governments screaming for explanations and no idea what to tell them. I'm lost, Doctor, Star. We all are."

"Don't despair Kate," The Doctor remarked "Your dad never did."

Kate stiffened, surprised he knew.

"Kate Stewart, heading up UNIT," Star smiled, "Changing the way they work."

"How could you not be? But why did you drop the Lethbridge?"

"I didn't want any favours," Kate replied, "Though he guided me, even to the end 'science leads' he always told me. Said he leaned that from an old friend."

"We don't let him down. We don't let this planet down." Star decided.

"No we don't," the Doctor agreed.

An alert beeped, "They've stopped," a technician murmured, "The cubes. Across the world. They just shut down."

"Active for 47 minutes and then they just die?" Kate frowned.

"Not dead," Star shook her head, "Just dormant."

"Then why shut down?" Amy wondered.

"We don't know," The Doctor sighed, "I don't know. Need to think. Need some air. Who has an underground base? Terrible ventilation," he turned and tugged Star off with him, Amy quickly following.

~.~

The trio sat outside the Tower of London on a wall overlooking the Thames, Amy on the Doctor left while Star sat on his right, smiling softly as she gazed up at the stars.

"The moment they arrived we should have made sure they were collected and burned," the Doctor muttered, "That is what I should have done."

"How?" Amy scoffed, "Nobody would've listened."

"Well they should," Star huffed, a pout on her face.

The Doctor smiled and dropped a kiss on her head at that before turning to Amy, "you're thinking of stopping, aren't you?" the Doctor asked the question that had been on his mind for a while, "you and Rory."

"No, no," she said quickly before sighing, "I mean, no, we haven't made a decision."

"But you're considering it."

"Maybe. I don't know. We don't know. There was a time; there were years, when I couldn't live without you." he chuckled, "uh, when just the whole everyday thing would drive me crazy. But since you dropped us back here, since you have us this house, you know, we've built a life. But I don't know if I can have both."

"Why?"

"Because they pull each other. Because they pull at me and besides the travelling is starting to feel like running away."

"That's not what it is." Star shook her head.

"Oh, come on," Amy rolled her eyes, "Look at you both. 4 days in a lounge and you go crazy."

"We're not running away," the Doctor defended, "This is one corner of one country, in one continent on one planet that's a corner of a galaxy, that's a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond and there is so much, so much, to see, Amy. Because it goes so fast. We're not running away from things. We're running to them, before they flare and fade forever. It's all right. Our lives won't run the same. They can't. One day, soon, maybe, you'll stop. I've known for a while."

"Then why do you keep coming back for us?" Amy asked.

"You're the first companions I've been with." Star said.

"And you were the first," the Doctor added, "The first face this face saw. And you're seared onto my hearts, Amelia Pond. You always will be. I'm running to you and Rory before you fade from me..."

Amy put her head on the Doctor shoulder, "Don't be nice to me. I don't want you to be nice to me."

"Yeah, you do, Pond." the Doctor leaned his head in Amy head, "And you always get what you want."

Star laid down in the Doctors lap before sitting up quickly, similar to a Meerkat, "They got what they wanted."

"What?" Amy frowned, "Who did?"

"The cubes," the Doctor slapped his cheek as he realised, "That's why they stopped. Clever girl!" he dropped a kiss on Stars forehead.

"Don't treat me like a baby," she laughed, "Now come on!"

~.~

"Kate?" the Doctor shouted as they caught up with her, "Before they shut down, they scanned everything, from your medical limits to your military response patterns. They made a complete assessment of planet Earth, that's what the surge of activity was." the power went out as he scanned around with the sonic, "Problem with the power?"

"Not possible," Kate shook her head, "We've got backups."

They walked back to the room with the cubes locked up.

"Doctor." Amy called, "Star, look..." she pointed at a cube as it lit with '7' on the side.

"What?" they walked over and looked at it.

"Why do they all say 7?" Kate frowned.

"7, what's important about 7?" he looked at Star.

"7 wonders of the world," she offered, "7 streaks of the River Ota. 7 sides of a cube."

"A cube had 6 sides." Amy corrected.

"But what about the inside?"

The cube changed to the number '6'.

"It has to be a countdown," the Doctor deadpanned.

"Not in minutes," Kate shook her head.

"Why would it be minutes, Kate? We have to get humanity away from those cubes. God knows what they'll do, if they hit zero. Get the information out any way you can: news channels, web sites, radio, text messages. People have to know that the cubes are dangerous."

"Ok, but why is it starting now?" Amy wondered, "I mean, the cubes arrived months ago. Why wait this long?"

"Because they're clever. Allow prior enough time to collect them, take them into their homes, their lives. Humans, the great early adopters. And then wham! Profile every inch of Earths existence."

"Discover how best to attack us." Kate realised.

"Get that information out anyway you can!" Star turned to her, "Quickly!"

"Right," Kate rushed off.

"Bees!" Star suddenly exclaimed, making then all look at her, "It's like with the bees, and the Earth and the...the Crucible! The bees disappeared but there was a trace!"

"You genius!" the Doctor cheered, picking her up and kissing her forehead, before putting her down again as she giggled, "Right, every cubes was activated. There must be signals, energy fluctuations on a colossal scale. There must be some trace. There can't not be." he turned to Amy and Kate, "We need to think of all the variables, all the possibilities, okay? Go, go, go, go, go!"

Amy and Kate rushed off.

"This is a national alert," a report called, "the government advices that members of this public dispose of all cubes. If here are cubes inside your house, remove them immediately.

The number, having dropped to '5' now dropped to '4'.

~.~

"Star, please," Amy begged, "You don't have to do this," she turned to the Doctor, "Why are you letting her do this?"

"She used her pouty face." he defended, "I can't resist that face!" It wasn't his fault, he decided to go into the chamber when the cube hit '0' but then Star had done her pouty face, wanting to go inside herself instead of him and...he'd agreed, he really needed to work on a way to resist that face, it was a hypnotist face.

"She's right," Kate agreed, "You don't have to be in there. We can do this remotely."

"Remotely isn't our style," Star remarked, "see you after." she pecked the Doctors cheek, knowing he was not remotely happy about this.

But he pulled her into a tight hug, they had no idea what was in the cube or whatever it was.

She laughed and pulled away, entering the chamber and sat in the chair, legs crossed, as the cube hit '0' and the lid slid open.

"Hello," Star leaned forwards and looked inside to see it empty.

"What's happening?" Kate called.

"Well?" Amy asked

"What's in there?" the Doctor frowned.

"Nothing," she huffed, "It's empty."

"Well, that's good?" Amy tried to keep it light, "you know, it's not bombs, it's not aliens..."

"Why?" the Doctor shook his head, "Why is there nothing inside?"

"It makes no sense!" Star huffed, storming out of the chamber in a temper.

"Glasses," the Doctor called as they walked to the researcher as he monitors the other cubes, "Is it the same? Is it the same all around the world?"

"They're empty," Kate noted, "We're safe, right?"

"No. No, no, no, no. We are very far from safe. All along, every action has been deliberate. Why draw attention to the cubes if they don't contain anything?"

"Doctor, look," Amy nodded at the monitors, showing people on the streets gripping their chests and collapsing to the ground.

"They're CCTV feeds from across the world," the researcher commented, "Showing the same."

"People are dying," Kate gasped.

"What?" the Doctor leaned closer, not noticing Stars eyes widen, "They can't be dying. How? How are they dying?"

"I want information in how people are being affected," Kate demanded to the researcher.

"The cubes brought people closer together. The opened and then..."

"Ah!" Star grabbed her chest in pain as she fell to her knees.

"Star!" the Doctor cried, rushing to her side, checking on her, as she clutched her chest.

"Star, what's the matter?" Amy gasped.

"I don't know!" she snapped, "Ouchy, Ouchy, Ouchy!"

"Posters are logging a global surge in hear failure, cardiac arrest." the researcher remarked.

"You've only got one heart working!" the Doctors eyes widened.

"Ok," Amy stepped towards them, "We need to get you to the hospital!"

"No!" Star leaned on the Doctor, using him for support, "10 seconds after the cubes opened. Show the patterns in their electrical current."

"No!" Kate gasped.

"Yes, the power cut," the Doctor nodded, "they sucked the power and then. They signal boxes! Ow!" he cried as Star squeezed his arms from the pain.

"You have no need to complain. You're not the one with only one heart working." Star glared at him.

"Yes, right, ok. People leaning in, wham. Pure electrical surge out of the cube targeted at the nearest human heart. The heart, an organ powered by electrical currents, short-circuited. How to destroy a human? Go for the heart."

"Ow!" Star whimpered, "No fun!"

"The scans you set running," Kate called, "The transmitter locations. It's found them."

The Doctor looked over at the monitors, "Oh, look at them all, pulsing, bold as brass. 7 of them, all across the world. 7 stations, 7 minutes. Why is that important?"

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Star cut in, "Ow, ow ow!" she looked at Amy, "How do you cope with one heart?"

"It is pitiful." the Doctor agreed, feeling helpless to help his daughter. What else could they do but insult the others? "A wormhole. Bridging two dimensions. Seven of them hitched onto this planet, but...where's the closest one? glasses, zoom in."

The researcher zoomed in on London to a particular building.

"That's the hospital where Rory works." Amy recognised it.

~.~

The Doctor walked down the corridor of Rory's hospital, carrying Star on his back, feeling her wince every so often as they walked.

"How many deaths have been recorded?" Star asked Kate, trying to distract herself from the pain.

"We don't know," Kate sighed, "We think it could be a third of the population."

"Kate," the Doctor looked at her, "I have to find the wormhole. But the attacks could still happen. Tell the world. Tell them how to deal this. The world needs your leadership right now."

"I'll do my best." Kate nodded.

"Of course you will," Star offered a strained smile, "You're a Stewart. Good luck."

Kate nodded and left.

"Ah! Ah!" Star closed her eyes to stop herself from crying.

"Doctor, how long can she last with one heart?" Amy asked him.

"Not much longer," the Doctor took a breath, setting her down on the floor, leaning against the wall, "We need to locate the wormhole portal." he noticed a little black girl holding a cube, "Hello. Hello!" he moved over to her, "You are giving off some very strange signals..." he pulled the sonic to her face and her face glowed blue.

"Oh, my god." Amy breathed.

"Outlier droid monitoring everything. If I shut her down, we can..." he aimed the sonic at he neck, "It's all right. It's all right," the girl sway and he gently lowered her to the floor.

"Ah! I can't hold on much longer," Star whimpered, "It hurts!"

"No, no, no." the Doctor brushed her hair out of her face, soothing her, "You're ok. You're a big strong girl, you can hold on."

"Alright!" Amy shouted, grabbing a portable defibrillator, and holding up the paddles, "Desperate measures!"

"What?" the Doctor looked at her, "No! No, no, no, no! That's won't work. She's a Time Lord!"

Amy opened Stars corset and quickly unbuttoned some of the girls buttons and placed the paddles to he chest, "Clear!"

Star jerked as the electricity coursed through her. She gasped jumping back up, "Ah-ha!" she cheered, "two hearts again!"

"Welcome back lefty!" the Doctor laughed, helping her stand, hugging her tightly, "Back in the game. Never do that to her again." he warned Amy before the walked off again, Star doing her buttons back up.

~.~

The trio stood in front of the goods lift where the sonic had led them.

"Oh, portal to another dimension in a goods lift?" Amy eyed the lift as the doors pinged open.

"The energy signals converge here," the Doctor checked the results on the sonic, "does seem a bit cramped, though."

They stepped inside and the back wall ripped.

Star poked it with her finger and the trio shared a smile, "through the looking-glass."

"That's not Disney," the Doctor remarked.

"Close enough," she shrugged taking his hand as he took Amys and they stepped through…

And into a dark spaceship, some sort of examination room by the looks of it.

"Where are we?" Amy looked around.

The Doctor peeked outside the window and looked at the Earth, a blue aura around it, "we're in orbit. One dimension to the left."

"Rory!" Amy cried seeing him lying unconscious on a table at the end of the row. Brain on the gurney next to him.

The Doctor pulled out a small veil and tossed it to Amy, "Seborean smelling salts."

"Those are outlawed in 7 galaxies." Star chastised.

Amy held the salts under Rory nose, making him sit up…before they were shot at.

"Whoa-hoa!" the Doctor ducked down, pulling Star with him, "what kind of a welcome do you call that?" he turned to Amy, "get them out of here you too. Now."

"What are you going to do?!" Amy asked him, using the salts to wake Brain up, the man quickly sitting up.

"We have no idea!" Star grinned.

"Get him through the portal." The Doctor called.

It when as the humans left when they noticed a bald figure in a black cloak. Its skin heavily cracked and wrinkled. "So many of them," it stated, watching the humans leave, "crawling the planet, seeping into every corner." He disappeared and reappeared at a computer screen.

"The Shakri," Star breathed.

"It's not possible," the Doctor shook his head, taking Stars hand, "I though the Shakri were a myth. A myth to keep the young of Gallifrey in their place." The amount of times he had had to tell his son off for trying to scare Star with the story, the amount of times the girl had nightmares about them, it was not a pleasant number.

"The Shakri exist in all of time and none." The Shakri stated, "We travel alone and together. The 7."

"The Shakri craft, connected to Earth through 7 portals in 7 minutes. Ah, but why?"

"Serving the word of the Tally."

"Why the cubes?" Star asked, "Why Earth?"

"Not Earth, humanity." It corrected, "The Shakri will halt the human plague before the spread."

"Ease humanity before it colonizes space," the Doctor nodded following, "we though the cubes were an invasion, the start of war."

"The human contagion only! Must be eliminated."

"Who are you calling a contagion?" Amy demanded as she and Rory stood by them.

"Oi!" the Doctor turned to them, "didn't I tell you two to go?"

"You should've learnt by now," Rory commented.

"He's got a point," Star had to agree.

"Yeah and what's this 'Tally', anyway?" Amy asked

"Some call it 'Judgement day' or 'the Reckoning.'"

"You don't know?"

"We've never wanted to find out." The Doctor admitted.

"Before the Closure, there is the Tally." The Shakri replied, "The Shakri serves the Tally!"

"The pest controlled of the universe. That's how the tales went, isn't it?" Star tilted her head, recalling the stories.

"Wow, that's a seriously weird bedtime story." Amy remarked.

"You can talk," the Doctor scoffed, "wolf in your grandmother's nightdress?"

"I like little red riding hood." Star pouted.

"Anyway!" the Doctor clapped his hands, getting back to the point, "here you are depositing slug pellets all over the Earth, made attractive so humans will collect them, hoping to find something beautiful inside. Because that's what they are. Not pests or plague, creatures of hope, forever building and reaching. Making mistakes, of course, every life form does, but, but, they learn. And they strive for greater and they achieve it. You want a tally? Put their achievement again their failings, through the whole of time. I will back humanity against the Shakri every time."  
>"We will," Star corrected.<p>

"The Tally must be met," the Shakri stated, "the second wave will be released." It tapped on the keyboard.

"What does that mean?" Amy asked, growing concerned.

"It's going to release more cubes to kill more people," the Doctor told them.

"The human plague, breeding and fighting." The Shakri said, "And when cornered, their rage to destroy. You're too late, Doctor, Star. The Tally shall be met." And with that he disappeared.

"He's gone." Amy gasped.

"He was never really here." The Doctor countered, "Just the ship's automated interface. Like a talking propaganda poster. We can stop the second wave," he sonic the computer, "we can disconnect all the Shakri craft from their portals, leave them drifting in the dark space."

"But all those people who were near the cubes, so many of them will have died." Star sighed sadly.

"I restarted one of your hearts." Amy reminded her.

"You'd need mass defibrillation," Rory shook his head.

"Of course," the Doctor beamed, "ah, beautiful. But, Ponds, Ponds we're going to go one better than that."

"We're going to use the cubes to turn people's hearts back on!" Star cheered, grinning widely at that.

"Will that work?" Amy frowned.

"Well, creatures of hope." The Doctor shrugged, "has to." He soniced the screen, "30 seconds. Don't let me down, cubes. You're working for us now." The ship suddenly began to shake violently, "oh, dear. All those cubes. There's going to be a terrible wave of energy ricocheting around here, any second."

"Run!" Star shouted and they ran off.

"Im going to miss this." Rory laughed as they jumped through the portal just as the ship exploded and the humans got up from the ground.

~.~

"You really are as remarkable as dad said," Kate remarked as they stood outside the Tower of London the next morning, waiting for a car, "thank you," she kissed his cheek.

"My!" the Doctor smiled, "A kiss from a Lethbridge-Steward. That is new."

Star hugged Kate, "you're father would be proud."

"Im sorry, he never met you." Kate murmured.

"Oh dear," the Doctor looked at his watch, "we're late for diner."

The two saluted Kate before getting into the car as Kate waved goodbye.

~.~

The Doctor, Star, Amy, Rory and Brain sat at the table eating Chinese by candlelight.

"Mm, dear me," the Doctor began finishing his last mouthful, "we'd better get going. Things to do. Worlds to save… swings to…"

"Push me on." Star finished, with a laugh.

The Doctor gabbed two fortune cookies and headed for the door before turning back, "look, we know you both have lives here, beautiful, messy lives. That is what makes you so fabulously human. You don't want to give them up. I understand."  
>"Actually," Brain cut in, "Its you they can give up. And I don't think they should. Go with them. Go save every world you can find. Who else has that chance? Life will still be here."<p>

"You can come too, Brian." Star offered.

"Somebody's got to water the plants. Just bring them back safe." He may be travelling more now but he wasn't up to that kind of travelling.

Amy and Rory grinned as they followed the Time Lords outside and into the TARDIS, waving at Brain before disappearing for their next adventure.


	6. The angels take manhatten

In the middle on Centre Park the small group sat, having a picnic. The Doctor sat on a large rock, reading a book, Star leaning on his lap. Rory was lying on the ground soaking up the sun as Amy sat with her back to the Doctor reading her own book.

"New York growled at my window," the Doctor read his book aloud, "but I was ready for it. My stocking seams were straight, my lipstick was combat ready…and I was packing my cleavage that could fell an ox at 20 feet…" he trailed at the last part.

"Doctor, you're doing it again." Amy moaned.

"Im reading to my daughter!"

"Oh please, Star isn't paying any attention, are you Star?"

"Huh?" Star peeked her eyes open, "what?"

"See."

He turned around and looked at her, "there's something different about you, isn't there?"

"What's the book?" Rory called.

"'Melody Malone,'" He answered, "she's a private detective in old-town New York."

"She's got ice in her heat and a kiss on her lips and a vulnerable side she keeps well-hidden," Amy remarked sarcastically.

"Oh, you've read it." The Doctor started to smile.

"No, you read it. Aloud. And then went 'Yowzah.'"

"You know, only you could fancy someone in a book." Rory sat up.

"Im just reading," he defended, "I just like the cover."

"Ooh!" Amy quickly turned around, "can we see the cover?"

"It reminds me of someone," Star squinted at the cover as though expecting that to help her remember who.

"It's your hair," the Doctor decided moving to sniff Amy's hair, "Is it your hair?"

"Oh, shut up," Amy rolled her eyes, "it's the glasses. I'm wearing reading glasses now. On my nose. See? There you go."

"I don't like them. They make your eyes look all liney." he lifted the glasses up before putting them down again, "Sorry. They're fine. Carry on."

"Okay," Rory quickly stood, "I'm going to go and get us some more coffee. Who wants more coffee? Me too! I'll go!"

"Rory," Amy turned to her husband, "do I have noticeable lines on my eyes now?"

"Yes." The Doctor nodded as Rory said, "No."

"You didn't look."

"I noticed them earlier," Rory winced as he turned to face her, "Didn't notice them. I specifically remember not noticing them."

"You walk amount fire pit, centurion."

"Do I have to come over there?" he smiled, walking over.

"You can, if you like," she teased.

"We have company."

"I'll get a babysitter for them."

"Oh!" the Doctor grumbled, "Do you know, it is do humiliating when you do that." he went back to reading.

"Coffee?" Rory asked again.

"Coffee." she nodded.

"I'll go with you." Star jumped up.

The Doctor grabbed her waist and spun her to face him, "Who says you're going anywhere?"

"I want another hot chocolate, and Rory can't carry four drinks by himself."

~.~

Star carried her hot chocolate and the Doctor coffee as Rory held his and Amy's as they walked back to the rock. They passed a large fountain that had some cherubs carved into its side, they neared the underpass when the slowed hearing a quiet giggling followed by scampering feet.

Star turned around, there was no children around, "Let's hurry back." she ushered Rory to walk faster.

Next think they knew they were standing there at night time. A woman with brown curly hair stood before them, dressed for 1930's New York.

"I don't understand," Rory shook his head, utterly confused, "We just went to get coffees for the Doctor and Amy!"

Star merely laughed, "Hello River." she dropped the cups and ran and hugged her tightly.

River smirked, hugging her back before lifted up her fedora on her head and looking at Rory, "Hello dad."

"Where are we?" Rory asked, "How the hell did we get here?

"I haven't the faintest idea. But you'll probably want to put your hands up."

They both look back to see a man aiming a gun at them, they both raised their hands; another appeared behind River, "Melody Malone!"

"You're Melody?" Rory gaped.

"I knew the cover reminded me of someone!" Star cheered.

A car pulled up next to them, "Get in," the man ordered, opening the door.

"Ok," Rory shook his head as the car headed off, them inside, "What's going on?"

"You didn't come here by TARDIS, did you?" River remarked.

"Isn't that obvious?" Star countered.

"Why?" Rory frowned.

"You couldn't have." River shrugged. "This city's full of time distortions. Be impossible to land the TARDIS here. Like trying to land a plane in a blizzard. Even I couldn't do it."

"But daddy will pout and will still try," Star said.

"Well, how did you get here?" Rory asked.

"Vortex manipulator." River held up her wrist, "Less bulky than a TARDIS. A motorbike through traffic. You?"

"I'm...not sure." he looked at Star for answered.

"Weeping Angels." Star guessed, "Only thing I can think off."

"Thought that might be the case." River nodded, "I've been investigating sightings of them all over the city."

They looked out the window as the car pulled up to a large house and were escorted inside, that obviously belonged to a collector, their were artifacts from every time period on Earth.

"Ah," River commented spotting a large Chinese vase, "early Qin Dynasty, I'd say."

"Correct," an older, slightly plump man called from the landing above. "Are you an archaeologist as well as a detective?"

"Early Qin exactly." Star agreed.

"You're very well informed." The man eyed them.

"And you're very afraid," River countered, "than an awful lot of locks for one door." He nodded back where there were four different locks on the door.

"Star," Rory called her over, "im translating."

"TARDIS translation circuits," Star answered him, "it hangs around a bit."

"This one," the man pointed at Rory, "put him somewhere uncomfortable."

"With the babies sir?" one of the men who grabbed hold of Rory asked.

"Yes. Why not? Give him to the babies."

Star stepped forwards about to us her insanity on the men to let Rory go but Rory shook his head, trying to assure her he'll be fine…wherever he was going.

She hesitated but relaxed.

"Star," River called as she took of hr trench coat, "look at this."

They shared a smirk seeing on the vase the word, 'Yowzah'.

"Hello sweetie," River smirked, turning to face the man, "let's see, crime boss with a collecting fetish. Whatever you don't want anyone else to see has got to be you're favourite. Or, possibly, your girlfriend." She opened a curtain to reveal an angel poised to attack but chained and manacled, its face deformed as though it had be attacked.

"So, girlfriend then." Star and River said at one before sharing a high five and a laugh.

"What are you doing?" the man frowned as River typed on her vortex manipulator.

"Oh, you know," she shrugged him off, "texting my brother."  
>"These things are all over," the man explained, "but people don't seem to notice. It never moves while you're looking."<br>"We know." Star muttered.

"Interesting," the man turned to Star, "I know of Melody Malone, the detective who investigates angel but…"

"Badly damaged," River cut in, trying not to get Star too involved.

"I wanted to know if it could feel pain."

"It's screaming," Star stated, moving closer to the angel, "and the others can hear."

"Is that why you need all the locks?" River looked at the man.

The man merely smirked and switched the lights off for a second before turning them back on to see Star in the angels grip. "You're going to tell me all about these creatures. And you're going to do it quickly." he turned the lights off again and the angel tightened its grip of Star.

"The angels are predators." River told him as she tried to pry Stars hand free, "they're deadly. What do you want with them?"

"Im a collector. What collector could resist these? Im only human."

"And that's exactly what their thinking."

At that moment the lights began flickering and the house shook before there was a low wheezing sound.

"Idiot!" Star grinned.

"What's that?" the man gasped, "what's happening? Is it an earthquake? What is it?"

"Oh, you bad boy." River smirked, "you could burn New York."

"What does that mean?!"

"it means, Mr Grayle, just you wait til my brother gets home," River laughed at the same time Star said, "just you wait till my daddy gets home."

"I would high five you," Star turned to River, "but my high fiving hand is in the grip of an angel." The shaking got worse, knocking Mr Grayle out as the TARDIS fully materialised.

"Rory!" the TARDIS doors open and Amy ran out, "Rory! Rory?!"

"Doctor!" Star called seeing him step out.

"My girls!" the Doctor greeted, rushing to them, "sorry im late, traffic was hell." He noticed Grayle on the ground, "shock. He'll be fine. So where are we now, Dr Song? How's Prison?"

"Oh I was pardoned ages ago." River replied, "And its Professor Song to you."

"Pardoned?"

"Mm! turns out the person I killed never existed, in the first pace. Apparently there's no record of him or his daughter. It's almost as if someone's gone around, deleting themselves from every database in the universe."

"You said I got to big," he tapped her nose.

"And, now, no ones ever heard of you. Didn't you used to be somebody?"

"Weren't you the woman who killed the Doctor?" he countered.

"Doctor who?" she smirked.

The Doctor looked at the angel and scanned it with the sonic, "she's holding you very tight."  
>"You know I can feel that," Star muttered sarcastically, "actually no I cant. My circulations being cut off!"<br>"I doubt she's strong enough to send you back in time."

"Well, you're going to need a hand back," River eyed it.

"Well, its either going to be hers or mine?" the Doctor looked at her devastated, "oh, really? Why?"

"Im sorry," he breathed, "Amy read it in a book and, now, I have no choice." He turned to Amy who stood in the doorway, "you see?"

"Well, what book," River frowned.

He pulled out the book he was reading earlier, "your book. Which you haven't written yet, so we cant read!"

"I see." River nodded, looking at it, "I don't like the cover much."  
>"But if Rivers going to write that book she'd make it useful, yeah?" Amy tried to cover up her mistake of reading ahead.<p>

"Well, I'll certainly try," River agreed, "but we can't read ahead. It's too dangerous."

"I know but there must be something we can look at."

"Chapter titles." Star called.

The Doctor snapped his fingers at her, "brilliant!" he looked at the chapter titles, "he's in the cellar."  
>Amy held her hand out, "Gimme."<p>

The Doctor tossed her the sonic and she ran to the cellar, when he stiffened.

"Daddy?" Star eyed him.

"Doctor?" River frowned, "Doctor, what is it? What's wrong? Tell us." He showed them the last chapter title 'Amelia's Last Farewell' his grip on the book tightened. "I know that face. Calm down! Calm down!"

"Please!" Star pleaded.

The Doctor threw the book to the ground; "no!" he stormed out to follow Amy.

"Please!"

He stopped and turned back to her, "get yourself out. Get your wrist out with out breaking it." he stormed off again.

"How?" River called after him.

"Change the future!"  
>"Any ideas?" Star huffed.<p>

"None," she sighed.

"Ok."

~.~

"So is this what's going to happen?" the heard Amy ask as River put her coat on, Star out of the angels grip, "we just keep chasing him back in time and they keep pulling him further back."

Star and River came out of the study, reading from her handheld. "He isn't back in time. Im reading a displacement, but there are no temporal markers. He's been moved in space, not in time, and it's not that far from here, by the look of it."

The Doctor gaze was more on Star as she stood next to River, "you got out."

"Yeah, I did." Star offered a small smile.

"So where is he?" Amy cut in.

"Well, come on, come on, come on, where is he?" the Doctor asked.

"If it was that easy, I'd get you to do it." River rolled her eyes.

"How did you get your wrist out without breaking it?" the Doctor eyed Star.

"You asked," she shrugged, "so I did it."

"Brilliant!" he laughed, "you just changed the future!"

"Rivers working."

"Wherever it is, it's within a few blocks." River remarked. "There's a car out front. Shall we steal it?"  
>"Show me!" the Doctor jumped up from where he sat on the stairs next to Amy and grabbed Stars hand on the way out the door.<p>

She hissed in pain and the Doctor finally noticed that her hand was broken. He closed his eyes; now realising she had lied to him. She never does that.

The future was set.

~.~

"Okay," the Doctor handed Amy Rivers handheld not wanting to deal with that at the moment, "when all those numbers on both units go to zero, that's when we've got a lock, ok? That's how we find Rory."

"Got it," Amy nodded and leaned on the wall.

The Doctor went to sit on the stairs next to his daughter, sitting on her left as River sat on her right. "Why did you lie to me? You NEVER lie to me."

"You were upset." She whispered, "I don't like it when you're upset."

"It must hurt. Come here." He took her hand careful.

"Yes, the wrist also hurts."

Without a word the Doctor placed his other hand on hers and soon her hand glowed with regeneration energy.

"No!" she cried, "stop it. River tell him!"

The Doctor removed his hand and her wrist was heal, "there we are," he smiled, kissing it, "how's that?"

"How's this?" she countered, slapping him around the face before storming out, not wanting to look at him.

That was a waste and he knew it, he knew he shouldn't have done it! He was on his last regeneration he didn't have the energy to waste on her! he was so stupid!

~.~

Moments later the Doctor, River and Amy ran out, "got it!" he cheered, "He's in a place called Winter Quay. The car, yes? Let's go."

They hurried in, Star smirking as a statue of a mother and son watched them, she blinked and they disappeared. The door to Grayle's house was left wide open.

He'll be in for a surprise when he wakes up.

Good.

They got out of the car as Amy drove them to Winter Quay. The Doctor and River climbed out from the back seat as Star exited from the passenger side, not wanting be look at the Doctor, she was still mad at him.

"Why would they send him here?" River wondered, "why not zap him back in time, like they normally do?"

"We'll know that when we know what this place is." The Doctor answered.

"Winter Quay." Amy read the sign at the front.

They ran to the building and the doors opened for them.

"Lift," Star ordered and they rushed inside the small space.

"Rory?" Amy looked at River as she tracked him.

"He's close." She nodded.

"Rory!" the lift open and Amy strode down the hall, "Rory!" she open apartment 802 and saw him.

"Amy" Rory ran and hugged her.

"Doctor. Star. Look at this," River called, looking at the angel at the end of the hall, smiling, "why is it smiling?"

The Doctor looked at the nameplate to see it reading 'R. Williams, "Amy. Rory!" he ran in the apartment, River and Star backing in, eyes on the angel, "get out of here. Don't look at anything. Don't touch anything."

"Who's that?" Amy breathed looking at the old man lying on the bed.

He reached out for her, "Amy!" he rasped, "Amy, please. Amy please. Please."

Amy hesitated before taking his hand, "Rory." She breathed, recognising him anywhere. She turned to her Rory, "he's you."

"Amy," Older Rory smiled softly before resting back against the pillows, breathing his last. Amy let go of his hand.

"Someone, please, tell me what is going on." Rory demanded.

"Im sorry, Rory," Star whispered, from the doorway, but they still heard her, "but you just died."

"This place is policed by angels," the Doctor remarked, "every time you try to escape, you get zapped back in time."

"So this place belongs to the angels"? Amy frowned, "they built it?"

"Displacing someone back in time creates time energy and that is what the angels feed on. But, normally, it's a one-off, a hit and run. If they could keep hold of their victims, feed off their time energy, over and over again…this place is a farm, a battery farm. How many angels in New York?"

"Its like they've taken over every statue in the city." River commented.

"The angels take Manhattan because they can. Because they've never had a food source like this one, the city that never sleeps…" Star trailed as they heard a crashing of footsteps from outside.

"What was that?" Rory asked.

"No idea, but they're coming for you."

"What does that mean? What is going to happen to me? What is physically going to happen?"

The Doctor sat down and rubbed his hands in his face, "the angels will come for you. They'll zap you back in time, to this very spot, 30 40 years ago, and you will live out the rest of your life in that room, until you die in that bed." The crashing continued.

"And will Amy be there?"

"No."

"How do you know?" Amy demanded.

"Because he was so pleased to see you again."

"Okay." Rory took a breath, "well, they haven't taken me yet." he chuckled before sobering quickly, "what if I just run? What if I just get the hell out of here? Then that never happens."

"It's already happened." Star stated, coming inside the room, River locking the door, "you just witnessed your own death."

"He's right." River called.

"No he isn't." the Doctor shook his head.

"If Rory got out, it would create a paradox."

"What is that?" Amy asked as the crashing got louder.

"This is he angel's food source. The paradox poisons the well. It could kill them all. This whole place would literally unhappen."

"It would be almost impossible." The Doctor sighed.

"Love that almost." Star grinned.

"But to create a paradox like that takes almost unimaginable power." The Doctor argued, standing back up, "what have we got? Eh? Tell me. Come on, what?"  
>Amy stood next to Rory and took his hand in hers, "I won't let them take him. That's what we got."<p>

"Ohana means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." Star quoted.

Rory joined the Doctor at the window, "whatever that thing is, it's getting closer."

"Rory," the Doctor turned to him, "even if you got out, you'd have to keep running for the rest of your life. They would be chasing you forever."

"Well, then, better get started," Amy decided and opened the door revealing the angel, "husband run!" they squeezed past the angel as the others stared at it.

"Im not sure this can work." The Doctor admitted and the lights flickered and the angels entered the room.

"Brother…" River began.

"Shut up." Star finished.

"I can't keep doing this," the Doctor huffed.

"Any ideas?" River asked.

"Yeah. This." Star grabbed their shoulders and teleported them out of the room and to the hallway.

"Brilliant!" he steadied her as she stumbled.

"Never carried more than one before." She beamed, "that was fun!"

"Come on!" River called and they ran to the staircase only to find angels blocking the way.

"Uh, okay, fire escape." The Doctor called.

~.~

"What the hell are you doing?!" the Doctor shouted as they climbed onto the roof to see Amy and Rory standing on the ledge of the building, ready to jump.

"Changing the future," Amy smiled softly, gazing into Rory's eyes, "it's called marriage." And with that they fell off the ledge.

"Amy!" Star screamed as they ran over, "Rory!"

"Amy!" the Doctor gasped as they watched them fall.

"Doctor! Star!" River called seeing the electrically energy around them, "what's happening?!"  
>"The paradox, its working." The Doctor realised, taking Stars hand in one and Rivers in the other.<p>

"The paradox is working!" Star cheered, taking Rivers other hand.

The light brightened…

~.~

"Amy! Rory!" Star cried as they sat up in a graveyard outside of the city, she ran and hugged them tightly.

"Where are we?" Rory asked.

"Back where we started!" the Doctor grinned, "you collapsed the timeline. The paradox worked. We all pinged back where we belong."

"What, in a graveyard?"

"This happened last time," Amy recalled, "why always here?"

"Does it matter?" the Doctor countered, "We got lucky! We could've blown New York off the planet. We can't ever take the TARDIS back there. The timelines are too scrambled, oh, could've lost you both," he hugged them tightly; "don't ever do that again."

"What did we do?" Rory frowned, "we fixed it. We solved the problem."

"I was talking to myself," he kissed them both on their heads and walked away.

"It could do with a repaint." River remarked as she stepped out of the TARDIS holding a bucket and a rag.

"We've been busy." The Doctor waved her off.

"Does the bulb on top need changing?"

"Just changed it." Star told her.

"So Rory and Amy, then."

"They'll be fine," she smiled.

"They're going to get terribly bored, hanging around here all day."

"Doctor." Amy called as she and Rory walked over.

"Ha!" the Doctor laughed.

"Next time, can we just go to the pub?" Rory asked.

"Let's go to a pub right now!" Star cheered.

"Are there videogames there?" the Doctor wondered, "I love videogames."

"Right, family outing, then." River nodded as she, Star and the Doctor entered the TARDIS only to hear Amy screaming for them.

"Doctor!" the girl screamed, "Star!"

They ran out to see an angel standing before them, Rory gone.

"Where the hell did that come from?" River breathed.

"It's a survivor," the Doctor pulled the sonic out and scanned it, "very weak, but keep your eyes on it."

"Where's Rory?" Amy asked, eyes locked on the angel.

Star frown seeing the angel pointing at a gravestone, she looked at it seeing Rory's name on it and age, 82, as he died. "oh, Amy, im sorry, so sorry."  
>"No." Amy shook her head, refusing to believe it, "no, we can just go and get him in the TARDIS. One more paradox."<p>

"Would rip New York apart..." the Doctor finished.

"No, that's not true. I don't believe you."  
>"Mother, it's true." River said, tearful.<p>

Amy let out a shuddering breath and walked towards the angel.

"Amy?" the Doctor eyed her, "what are you doing?"

"That gravestone," she commented, "Rory's, there's room for one more name, isn't there?"

"What are you talking about? Back away from the angel. Come back to the TARDIS!"  
>"We'll figure something else!" Star tried, "there is always another way…"<p>

"The angel," Amy replied instead, "would it send me back to the same time, to him?"

"I don't know." The Doctor shook his head, "nobody knows."  
>"But its my best shot, yeah?" she stepped closer to the angel.<p>

"No!"

"Doctor, shut up!" River snapped, "Yes, it is!"

"Amy…" the Doctor began.

"Well, then, I just have to blink right?" Amy confirmed.

"Yes." Star whispered. It hurt to know what she was doing, what would happen, but she would be with Rory, they'd be happy and together and that…that made her smile.

"It'll be fine. I know it will. I'll…I'll be with him, like I should be. Me and Rory, together. Melody." She held her hand behind her for her daughter to take.

"Stop it!" the Doctor cried, "just…just stop it!"

River took her mothers hand, "you look after them," Amy began crying, "And you be a good girl and look after them," River kissed her palm.

"Amy, think VERY carefully," Star murmured, "we'll never be able to see you again."

"I'll be fine. I'll be with him."

"Amy, please." The Doctor pleaded, crying himself now, "Come back into the TARDIS. Come on, Pond, please."

"Look after Rory." Star said, "Look after each other."

"Thank you, Star," Amy sniffed, "Raggedy man," she turned to him, "goodbye." And with that the angel touched her and she disappeared.

The Doctor broke down to his knees, Star going with him, both crying as the gravestone now added Amy to it, she died at the age of 87.

Star stood up as River put a comforting arm around the Doctor, her gaze on the angel. "Star?" she looked at the girl, "What are you doing?"  
>"Ending this," she replied, "once and for all." She glared the angel down with her dark eyes, as she held out her hand, slowly closing it to a fist as the angel blasted to smithereens.<p>

~.~

"River," Star sighed as she and the Doctor sat on the steps in the console room, "they were your parents."

"Doesn't matter." She tried to wave her off.

"Of course it matters." The Doctor scoffed.

"What matters is this: don't travel alone. And don't give me that 'we have each other nonsense.'"

"Travel with us then." Star offered.

"Whenever and wherever you want," she agreed, "but not all the time. One psychopath per TARDIS, don't you think? Ok, this book I've got to write, Melody Malone. I presume I send it to Amy to get it published?"

"Yes."

"I'll tell her to write an after word." She walked past them up to the corridor, "for you. Maybe you'll listen to her."

She left them in silence before the realised, "the last page!" they exclaimed together. Neither of them like endings, Star never read the last page but the Doctor, being the Doctor went as far as tearing the page out.

~.~

They sprinted through modern day New York back to Central Park where they had been picnicking where the Doctor had teared out the last page.  
><em>"After word, by Amelia Williams."<em> The read as they sat on one on the benches, the Doctor putting Amy's glasses on, _"hello, old friends. And here we are, you and me, on the last page. By the time you read these words, Rory and I will be long gone. So know that we lived well and were very happy. And above all else know that we will love you always. Sometime I do worry about you, though. I think, once we're gone, you wont be coming back here for a while and you might be alone, which you should never be. Don't be alone, neither of you. and do one more thing for me. There's a little girl waiting in a garden. She's going to wait a long time, so she's going to need a lot of hope. Go to here. Tell her a story. Tell her that, if she's patient, the days are coming that she'll never forget. Tell her she'll go to sea and fight pirates. She'll fall in love with a man who'll wait 2,000 years to keep her safe. Tell her she'll give hope to the greatest painter who ever lived and save a whale in outer space. Tell her this is the story of Amelia Pond and this is how it ends."_

_~.~_

The Doctor and Star sat in the Ponds home, having told Brain of what happened to his son and daughter-in-law. The man silent.

"Im so sorry." The Doctor said through his tears.

"We both are." Star squeezed the Doctors arm, "but…there is someone you need to meet."

Brain looked up at her as she left the room to and returned moments later with River.

"Hello, granddad." She greeted.

"What..?" he breathed. Rory had never told him he had had a daughter.

"Rivers half human-half Time Lord," Star explain quickly, "hence why she looked older that Amy and Rory. But she is still you granddaughter. Still family."

River smiled as Brain pulled her into a hug, both crying for their lose.

The Time Lords taking this moment to sneak out and leave them in peace.


	7. The great detectives

Star stood with her hand in the Doctor's, in the Victorian era, both dressed fro the times. The Doctor wearing a typical Victorian suit with a top hat on his head, Star wearing a dark purple high collar gown, with black ruffles along the corset, a slight puff on the sleeves at her shoulders before flowing loose. They hid in the shadows watching Vastra the Silurian, Strax the Sontaran and Jenny the human stand before them in the dark ally. They were waiting for them, well, waiting for a carriage to arrive but they stuck to the shadows now, since the Ponds had gone. They parked the TARDIS on a cloud but Vastra had called them down. Star had to give her 'puppy dog' eyes to get him to finally agree. He had gone into a bit of a grump after loosing the Ponds, he was missing them and it showed, she missed them too, but she wasn't going into a grump, these things happened, he'd lost many companions in the past so really it should be affected her more than him, but she was fighting with him and arguing to get him to get out of the TARDIS and she hated it. She hated arguing and fighting with him, she hated him in a grump, she hated hiding in the TARDIS.

She cleared her throat, letting the trio know they were there, knowing the Doctor wouldn't let them know they were there, hoping they would eventually leave.

The trio spun around to face them.

"I'm so glad you came!" Vastra breathed, "We have news, I think, of particular interest to you." they stayed silent, listening to her, "There was a meteor shower in the south west, unexpected timing and density. I have calculated there is a 34% chance it is the result of alien intervention." Still silence, "24%. Well it could JUST be meteors but it's worth looking into! There is a very pleasant tea room in the area." She added, "Im sure you and Star would find it enjoyable?"  
>"Also There's a professor, Erasmus Pin," Jenny tried, "who's claiming he's gonna split the world open with a giant drill through the thinnest part of the Earth's crust!" Star felt the Doctor stiffened, recalling with the Silurian's and the drill and how Rory was erased from time, "I think we should investigate! I mean, he doesn't actually have a giant drill, and he's not really a professor, and he was a bit drunk at the time and singing a bit but you know it's never too early to…investigate a drill."<br>"I've declared war on the Moon!" Strax announced.

Star buried her face in the Doctors jacket so she wouldn't let them know that she actually found the random outburst rather funny. But she could feel the Doctor try to stop himself from sniggering also, which was something.  
>"Do be quiet Strax!" Vastra sighed and they saw her roll her eyes at the Sontaran.<br>"Too long the Moon has hung unmonitored and unsuspected in the sky! It is gaining enormous tactical advantage!"  
>"There's no one living there!" Jenny argued.<p>

"Then it is CLEARLY time to act! They won't suspect a thing!"  
>"Who won't suspect a thing?"<br>"MOON-ITES!"  
>The Doctor shook his head, needing to say something before he did actually laugh out loud, "Why do you keep doing this?" he stepped out of the shadows, pulling Star closer, "What is the point? I have told you. I KEEP telling you! We don't do this anymore. We've retired."<br>"There's a man on Praid Street with an invisible wife!" Jenny attempted again, "maybe he just doesn't have a wife…."  
>"You're wasting your time." He strode past them, finding a carriage for them.<br>"Merry Christmas!" Jenny called after them.  
>"Star?" Vastra eyed her.<p>

"He's going through a hard time," Star sighed, "losing the Ponds, he's taking a lot on him, just…just give me time and I'll bring him round. He can't say no to me for very long."

"And how are you?"

She shrugged, "What's the point in hiding away?" she offered, "He'll get out of his grump soon, don't worry."  
>"Thank you." she whispered.<p>

"Merry Christmas." She headed off to where the Doctor had a carriage for them and hopped in.  
>She smiled as they headed off and she heard a faint, "Damn moon!" from Strax.<p> 


	8. the snowmen

The Doctor and Star walked down the streets on Victorian London, one night, through the light snow. They'd just come back from seeing Vastra and the others. The Doctor had been too stubborn to really talk to them and Star was having a small pout with him. She was absolutely sure that he had never acted like this when he'd lost other companions. They past a small tavern, the Rose and Crown, past a young brunette in a red dress.

"Did you make this snowman?" the girl called as they past her.

"No," the Doctor replied, without looking back, still walking.

Star peered over her shoulder at the snow.

"Well, who did?" the girl continued, "Cos it wasn't there a second ago. It just appeared, from nowhere."

Star nearly laughed as the Doctor stopped at that. _'What do you think?'_ he asked her telepathically.

'_Please.'_ She replied.

'_Fine. But I just wanted to watch Disney with you.'_

'_This first. Please.' _She gave him her 'puppy dog' eyes.

They walked back to the snowman the girl was looking at. It certainly wasn't one that Star would make; it was a tall lump of snow with an eerie smile on the face, no sticks for any arms or a carrot for a nose.

"Maybe its snow that fell before," the Doctor reasoned as he put on Amys reading glasses. "Maybe it remembers how to make snowmen."

"What, snow that can remember?" the girl scoffed, "that silly."

"What's wrong with silly?" Star looked at the girl.

"Nothing. Still talking to you, aint I?"  
>Star nodded her agreement, but she couldn't help but think whether she'd seen the girl before, she sounded familiar and looked familiar. She shook her head, "what's your name?" she asked her.<p>

"Clara." She answered.

"Nice name, Clara." The Doctor nodded, "you should definitely keep it. Goodbye!" he took Stars hand and walked off.

"Oi!" Clara chased them, hands on her hips, "where are you going? I thought we were just getting acquainted."  
>The Doctor offered Clara a tight smile, "Those were the days." They walked over again.<p>

"How refreshing to see you taking an interest again." Vastra's voice came on the speakers of a carriage as it pulled up besides them, "was she nice?"

"Yes," Star answered.

"We just spoke to her," the Doctor huffed, giving Star a hand into the carriage before following.  
>"And made your usual impact, no doubt."<p>

"No, no impact at all. Those days are over." The Doctor deadpanned.

"You can't help yourself. It's the same story, every time. And it always begins with the same two words."

"She'll never be able to find us again; she doesn't even have the name, Doctor, what two words?"

At that moment, Clara's head dropped through the flap at the top of the carriage, "Doctor? Doctor who?"

~.~

The Doctor knelt in the snow, letting it fall through his fingers. Star was on the ground next to him, making a snow angel, getting a smile out of the Doctor as he glanced at her. They ignored Clara's faint cry's to be let out as they locked her in the carriages. Strax stood at the mouth of the ally they were hiding in, watching a Dr Simeon entering his institute through electronic binoculars.

"They've taken samples from snowmen all over London," Strax called, "What do you suppose they're doing in there?"

"This snow is new," the Doctor remarked, "Possibly alien. When you find something brand new in the world, something you've never seen edits what the next thing you look for?"

"A grenade!"

"A profit." Star corrected.

"That's Victorian values for you." the Doctor stood and brushed his hands up.

"I suggest a full frontal assault with automated laser monkeys, scalpel mines, and acid."

"Why?"

"Couldn't we at least investigate?" Strax wondered.

"It's none of our business."

"Sir, permission to express my opposition to your current apathy?" he questioned.

He sighed, rolling his eyes, "Permission granted."

"Sir, I am opposed to your current apathy."

"Let me out!" Clara shouted banging on the carriage.

"Thank you Strax," the Doctor turned to the Sontaran, not noticing Star standing up, smirking, "And if ever I'm in the need of advice from a psychotic potato dwarf, you'll certainly be the first to know."

"But if the snow is new and alien, shouldn't we be making some attempt to destroy it?" Strax countered, "Be reasonable!"

"Let me out!" Clara yelled, shaking the carriage.

"It is not your problem." the Doctor sighed, "Over a 1000 years of saving the universe, Strax, you know the one thing I learned? The universe doesn't care..." he trailed off as he was hit in the back of the head by a snowball and then there was a fit of laugher from Star. "Oi!" he pointed warningly before smiling at her, looking at her as she had a large grin on her face, her eyes sparkling, the snow adding a natural glitter to her hair. He was cut out of his thoughts as Star tackled him to the ground.

"The universe may not care, but I do." Star smiled fondly at him. "Can we deal with Clara now?"

"Suppose we'd better." He agreed, helping to her to feet.

They opened the carriage door and they sat across from here.

"Don't worry. No ones going to hurt you." The Doctor reassured her.

"What is that thing?" Clara eyed Strax.

"Silence, boy!" Strax called as he stood blocking the door.

"That's Strax," the Doctors introduced, "as you can see, he's easily confused."

"Strax she's the same gender as me." Star reminded him.

"Ah." he gave a short nod. "Silence, girl. Sorry lad."

"Sontaran, clone warrior race, factory produced, whole legions at a time."

"Two genders are a bit further than he can count." The Doctor added.

"Ma'am. Sir." Strax hissed, "Do not discuss my reproductive cycle in front of enemy girls! It's embarrassing."

"Typical middle child of 6 million." Star whispered to Clara.

"Middle children are nuisances." The Doctor nudged Star. "Aren't you?"

"Technically, im not a middle child. There was four of us. No middle." The Doctor just gave her a look, "oh my god. Do I have a brother or sister I don't know about? Am I twin? Im not a twin am I? I'd know if I was a twin. No, im not a twin."

"You're not a twin. I'll explain later." He squeezed her shoulder.

"Who are you?" Clara looked between them, they weren't like anyone she's ever met and working in a tavern she'd met a lot of different people. How does someone not know about a sister?

"It doesn't matter because you're about to forget that you and I ever met."

"Strax," the Doctor turned to him, "we need the worm."  
>"Sir," Strax nodded and left to get the worm.<p>

"You'll need the what?" Clara's eyes widened, "The worm? What worm?"

"Don't worry, it won't hurt," the Doctor reassured her, "But one touch on your bare skin and you'll lose the last hour of your memory."

"Do we really have too?" Star pouted, the mind was a delicate thing, to use it on a person too many times can be dangerous.

He smiled and dropped a kiss in her head, knowing the secret meaning, they kept it locked up, she always felt bad for animals locked up. Although she never said anything he thought it was because she'd been locked up on the Dalek crucible for an entire regeneration. She always asked for a pet but only if it didn't have to be locked up and it was able to be free, well free in the TARDIS anyway. He might give her a pet one day, nothing too dangerous, not a panther or anything.

He was about to answer Star when Strax returned, empty handed, "Where is it?"

"Where's what, sir?" Strax blinked.

"We sent you to get the memory worm."

"Did you? When?" Then he noticed Clara sitting opposite them, directly opposite Star and tensed, she might be a threat to the girl, "who's he?" he pointed at Clara, "What are we doing here? Look it's been snowing!"

"You didn't use the gauntlets, did you?" Star guessed.

"Why would I need the gauntlets?" Strax frowned before realising, "Do you want me to get the memory worm?"

~.~

The Doctor stood next to the carriage as Strax laid under it, getting the memory worm. Star stood besides Clara, both smirking, knowing what would happen next.

"Can you see it?" the Doctor called.

"I think I can hear it." Strax struggled.

"Oi," the Doctor pointed at Clara as she tried to hide her smile, "Don't try to run away, stay where you are. Star don't let her leave."

"Why could I run?" Clara countered, "I know what's going to happen next, "and it's funny."

"What's funny?" he looked between the two of them.

"Your little pal, for a start. Ugly little fella, isn't he?"

"He gave his life for our friend once," Star murmured thinking back to that tragic day at Demons run.

"Then how come he's still alive?" Clara frowned.

"Another friend brought him back," she leaned in to whisper to the human, "Though I don't think all his brains came back with him."

"Neither am I." Clara agreed.

"I can see it." Strax called, turning them back to him.

"Ooh! Can you reach it?" The Doctor asked, "Have you got it?"

There was a tiny squeal from the worm and Strax froze, calling back, "Got what, sir?"

The Doctor hung his head and sighed.

"She's got the gauntlets." Clara nodded to Star who had hidden the gauntlets behind her back.

"Do you want her to remember?" he pointed playfully at Star.

"Remember what we promised River." Star countered. She sighed as he merely shrugged.

"Sir! Ma'am!" Strax shouted, "Emergency! I think I've been run over by a cab!"

Star giggled, handing the Doctor the gauntlets and went to help Strax, "You're fine." she helped him out from under the carriage, "See?"

The Doctor couched down, putting the gauntlets on and reached to get the worm, holding tightly as Star held the jar allowing him to slide the worm in, flipping the lid closed, "There you go. One touch and you lose about an hour of your memory."

"But let it bite you and you could lose decades." Star added.

The Doctor looked at Clara as she didn't move, "And you're still not trying to run."

"I don't understand how the snowman built itself." Clara remarked.

"Clara who?"

"Doctor who?"

"Dangerous question," Star smiled.

"What's wrong with dangerous?"

"Absolutely nothing! I love dangerous, dangerous is the best, we're normally always in danger, and it's the best!"

"You like to talk don't you?"

"Yeah!"

"The snow emits a low telepathic field..." the Doctor began explaining.

"My snowman..." Clara breathed seeing it appear as she blinked.

"...it seems to reflect people's thought and memories and because it's unusual somehow it carries a previous shape and..."

"No Doctor," she grabbed his arm and pointed at the snowman, "my snowman!"

"Ah! Interesting."

"Were you thinking about the snowman?" Star asked.

"Yes," Clara nodded.

Another snowman appeared, and another, and another.

"Can you please stop?" Star asked her, "Just stop thinking about the snowmen."

A snowman appeared behind them and opened it mouth, breathing snow and ice at them.

Clara gasped as a blue glowing wall appeared around them. The snow hitting the wall just sliding off and melted away. She gasped again seeing Star, her hand out, her eyes red; clearly she was the one keeping the wall up.

"Clara listen to me," the Doctor told her urgently, "The snow is feeding off your thoughts."

"I don't understand." Clara shook her head.

"You're caught in their telepathic field, they're mirroring you. The more you think about them, the more they appear. Imagine them melting, picture it, picture them melting!"

Clara closed her eyes, picturing them melting, and a moment later there was a splash as the snowmen melted, the three of them dry in the wall, "Very good!" he laughed before noticing that the wall was still up, he dashed over to her, taking he hands in his, "Star! It's ok, we're safe now."

She blinked rapidly as the wall slowly faded. She closed her eyes a moment, again she'd lost control, she just couldn't understand why now? Why now was she losing control? What had changed to make it do hard to keep control now? She had been fine at the beginning of her regeneration, but after 200 years, all of a sudden she couldn't seem to control it. What if she hurt someone without realising? She knew she had gotten the wall up to protect them but she just found it hard to let it down without the Doctor there, ensure that she knew they were now safe.

"Nice work," he whispered to her.

"Is that going to happen again?" Clara gasped, looking at the puddles.

"If it does, you know what to do about it."

"Unless I forget." She pointed out.

"Clara, I like you." Star laughed.

~.~

They'd sent Strax to take Clara back to the tavern, forgone the memory worm realising that if they did use it on her she would be defenceless against the snowmen. So they made her promise not to come looking for them again.

They'd walked through the streets and Star had tried and failed to reach the invisible ladder leading up to the TARDIS on the cloud, the Doctor had to reach it instead and led the way up the spiral staircase back to the TARDIS for tea and biscuits when someone knocked at the door, and they found Clara's red shawl, and saw her running back down the spiral staircase.

So, the Doctor, still being stubborn, moved the TARDIS, so she wouldn't find them again.

"It's later," Star pointed out, wanting to know about this other sister she apparently had.

"Yes it is." He agreed and was about to tell her when the phone rang, he slumped on the steps they were sitting on.

"I got it!" Star jumped up to answer it, and in her rush proceeded to completely miss the steps, tripping and almost face-planting the floor, luckily she caught herself in time.

"Careful." the Doctor chastised.

"I'm ok!" she assured him, "Hello? Hello!" she called into the phone.

"Ah, Star," Vastra greeted, "Could you put your father on?"

"Yup. Good luck," she added in a whisper before handing him the phone, "It's Vastra for you."

"Yes, what?" he snapped down the line.

"Miss Clara and her concerns about the snow," Vastra replied, "I gave her the one word test."

"Always pointless. What did she say?"

"Pond."

The Doctor removed Amy's reading glasses, staring at Star as she stuck out her bottom lip at him, silently pleading with him.

"Strax has already suggested where to start investigating," she added before hanging up.

"Please," Star gave him her big 'puppy dog' eyes.

~.~

They strode down the hall of 'the Great Intelligence HQ', claiming to Mr and Miss Holmes. The Doctor certainly looked like Sherlock Holmes, an Inverness cape and deerstalker hat and cane in his hand. It should have been a give away that he wasn't Sherlock with her being introduces as young Nicola Holmes, the name didn't fit right with her, she was Smith, not a Holmes, but the servant had eagerly gone to introduce them.

The doors flew open and they stepped into an office, a man with a long face and stern expression stood speaking to the servant who introduced them.

"Ooh, nice office," the Doctor grinned, looking around, "big globey thing," he eyed a off sphere-like object with snow inside it, in the middle of the room set on a small platform, "No, shut up, don't tell me!" he pointed his cane as the man, Dr Simeon so Vastra told them, "I see from your collar stud you have an apple tree and a wife with a limp. Am I right?"

"No." he deadpanned.

"But you've got a wife?"

"No."

"Bit of a tree? Bit of a wife? Some apples? Come on, work with me here."

"I enjoy the strand magazine as much as the next man but I am perfectly aware that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character and is not a father." he turned to Star, as she rummaged through the paperwork on the desk, "Don't touch!"

The Doctor stepped in front of her, blocking the man from getting to Star and pointed his cane as the servant, "Do you have a goldfish named Colin?"

"No." the man shook his head before leaving.

"Though not," the Doctor grinned, "Now...I see this is one of your business cards." he picked up one of the cards and held it in from of Simeon's face, "It says so on the front!"

"Who are you?" Simeon's demanded, "What are you doing here?"

"This," he ran to the sphere, slamming his cane against it, "wakey, wakey!"

"That is highly valuable equipment!" he grabbed his cane, "You must step away now."

"We are the intelligence." the sphere spoke.

"Talking snow." Star blinked, "that's new. Love you things."

"I know you do," The Doctor winked at her.

"You are not of this world." the sphere stated.

"Takes one to SNOW one!" the Doctor laughed, nudging Star.

"That's terrible!" Star laughed

He pouted, before moving on, "let's see. Multi-nuclear, crystalline organism with the ability to mimic a mirror what it finds," he tapped in the glass, "looks like snow. Isn't snow."

"You must leave now!" Simeon's glared at them.

"Shut up, he's deducting, it's exciting." Star grinned.

"Yes it is," he agreed, "Now, what are you, eh?" he began pacing, "A flock of space crystals? A swarm?" Star glanced back to see Simeon pressing a panel, ringing a bell, "the snow men are foot soldiers, mindless predators. But you, you're the clever one. You're...you're," he turned to Star, "who is he again?"

"Moriarty." she supplied.

"Moriarty." he snapped his fingers, "yes, exactly. So you turn up on a planet, you generate a telepathic field to learn what you can," he flashed the sonic at the door, "and when you've learnt enough, what do you do? You can conquer the world using snowman. Snowmen are rubbish in July..."

Star clapped a hand over his mouth, "Don't tell Olaf that."

He moved her hand off his mouth, "Olaf's not here."

"Oh. Right. Yes. Well you'll have to evolve."

"Sir, it appears to be stuck!" a servant called outside the doors.

"What have you done?" Simeon demanded, "Have you locked the doors?" he tried the handles.

"You need to translate yourself into something more human," the Doctor continued.

"Kick it down!"

"To do that you'd need a perfect duplicate of human DNA in ice from, where do you find that?"

"I know!" Star cheered, turning to face him from the desk, holding up a journal and some news clippings, "Governess frozen in pond."

"Gotcha." he grinned, taking her hand, and slipping out of the other door as the servants ran in the room.

~.~

The Doctor walked along the edge of the pond from the news paper clippings, scanning it with the sonic.

"Body frozen in a pond," the Doctor murmured, "the snow gets a good long look at a human being, like a full body scan. Everything they need to evolve. Pond. Good point, Clara."

"Clever Clara." Star smiled, "Genius." They both looked back hearing footsteps, to see Strax with a gun in his hand, "hello Strax."

"Madame Vastra wondered if you were needing any grenades?" he inquired.

"Grenades?" the Doctor frowned.

"She might have said help."

"Help for what?"

"Well, your investigation."

"Investigation?" the Doctor scoffed, "who says im investigating? Do you think im going to start investigating just because some bird smiles at me? Who do you think I am?"

"Sherlock Holmes."

"Oh," Star laughed, seeing the Doctor caught out.

"Don't be clever Strax, it doesn't suit you." the Doctor pointed at him.

"Sorry, sir." Strax sighed.

"Im the clever one, Stars the adorable one and you're the potato one."

"Yes, sir."

"Now go away."

"Yes…Mr Holmes." Strax grinned, rushing off.

"Oi!" he called as Star laughed, "shut up, you're not clever or funny and you've got tiny little legs," he pointed at Star, "don't encourage him!"

Star opened her mouth when they both heard a faint knocking, they looked back to see Clara, dress primly, waving at them and gesturing for them to come up.

The Doctor turned and rest his forehead against Stars, "ok, just tell her we're leaving, were not going up. Leaving, not going up."

"5 minutes," Star murmured, smirking as the Doctor turned around and held up his hand gesturing for 5 minutes.

"What was that all about?" he frowned at his hand, "where did that come from? You…" he bit his thumb.

"We'd best hurry." Star called, nodding at the ice as it began to crack.

~.~

They ran into the house and into the playroom as they heard screaming, and hid as Clara and the two children she was looking after ran in, the ice woman following. Clara was trying to tell the young girl to melt her but she was too scared to focus and the ice woman burst into the room.

"What about those people?" the young boy cried, "you said the man and girl were here, the cloud people."

"Well, there not, are they?" Clara countered.

"Where's the Doctor?"

"I don't know!"

"Shh!" Star hushed them as she at on a desk, watching the puppet show that was about to start.

"Doctor?" a squeaky voice called, they looked over to see the Punch puppet had popped up, "Doctor who?" the puppet aimed the sonic at the ice woman, shattering her.

The Doctor grinned as he popped up, "that's the way to do it!" the puppet turned to attack his face, "Oi, ow!" he came around and scanned the remains of the melting governess.

"Where did she go?" the girl, Francesca they heard from Clara's shouting, asked, "Will she come back?"

"No don't worry. She's currently draining through your carpet. New setting, anti-freeze."

"And you are very welcome." Star grinned.

"Im very grateful," Clara smiled, "I knew you'd come."

"No, you didn't, because I don't," he turned to her, "because this isn't the sort of thing I do any more. And if I don't do it, Star definitely doesn't. Next time you're in trouble, don't expect us to…" he trailed of seeing Star avoiding his eye.

He sighed; he'd always taught her that when people need help, you do what you can to help them.

"What is it?" Clara frowned, "what's wrong?"

He ignored and pulled Star closer, "im sorry," he whispered to her. "I didn't realise…"

"I've learnt to always give you time and you'll come though if not, well, I'd have to do something about that" she straightened his bowtie, "old habits…"

"It's cooler." Clara murmured.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" the Doctor smiled, thinking she was talking about his tie, "bow ties are cool!"

"They so are!" Star agreed, "I miss mine."

"No, the room," Clara corrected, "the room is getting colder."

Francesca gasped as the rug moved, "she's coming back! What's she going to do? Is she going to punish me?"

The Doctor soniced the pieces, "she's learnt not to melt. Of course, she's not really a governess, she's just a beast. She's going to eat you." he took Stars hands, ushering the children out, and Clara, "run!"

They ran down the front stairs only to stop seeing a man, their father, stood there, "children, what is exp…" he spotted the Doctor and Star, "who the devil are you?! What are you doing in my house?"

"It's ok!" the Doctor grinned, "we're your governess' friends and we've just been upstairs…"

"Saving your children from an ice statue of your last governess," Star answered promptly, making the Doctor rub his face.

"Captain Latimer," a ginger maid ran in, "In the garden, there's snowmen! And they're just growing, out of nowhere, all by themselves, look!" she opened the front doors to see Vastra and Jenny there.

"Good evening," Vastra greeted, "im a lizard woman from the dawn of time and this is my wife!"

The maid screamed and hurried down the hall, coming face to face with Strax.

"This dwelling is under attack!" Strax announced, "Remain calm, human scum!"

The maid screamed again and proceeded to faint.

"So!" the Doctor clapped his hands, "any questions?"

"Vastra!" Star pointed at her, "information on the snow."

"The snow is highly localised," she warned, "and on this occasion not naturally occurring."

"Its coming out of that cab parked by the gates," Jenny added.

"Sir, one pulver grenade would blow these snowmen to smithereens." Strax remarked.

"They're made of snow, Strax," the Doctor said, pulling on his ear, "they're already smithereens. See, Clara, our friends again."

"Clara?" the father frowned, "who's Clara?"

"Your current governess is in reality a former barmaid called Clara."

"That's the way to do it." the ice woman called from the top of the stairs.

"Meanwhile, your previous governess is now a living ice sculpture impersonating Mr Punch. Jenny, what have you got?"

Jenny threw a device at the woman, creating a red force field around her, "should hold it."

"Sir," Strax called, sticking his head out of one of the doorways, "this room, one observational window on the line of attack and one defendable entrance."

"Right," the Doctor nodded, "everyone in there now. Move it. You," he pointed at the father, "carry her." He gestured to the maid on the ground.

The Doctor flashed the sonic at the ice woman as Star ushered the children and Clara in the room.

"Nice to see you off your cloud and engaging again." Vastra smiled.

"Im not engaging again, my daughter is under attack."

"Just admit it, old man," Star rolled her eyes.

"Admit it, you've missed this," Vastra laughed

The Doctor turned and pointed the sonic at her, "shut up!" he pouted, taking Stars hand and running into the study with Vastra, "Strax, how long have we got?"

"They're not going to attack." Strax argued, "They made no attempt to conceal their arrival. An attack force would never abandon surprise so easily, and they're clearly in a defence formation."

"Well done, Straxie, still go it!" he rubbed Strax's head before kissing it and then grimacing.

"Sir, please do not noogie me during combat prep."

"They want something from here," Star reasoned.

"The ice woman." Clara stood from where she knelt in front of the children.

"Exactly." The Doctor nodded.

"Why's she so important?" Jenny wondered.

"Because she's the perfect duplication of human DNA in ice crystal form. The ultimate fusion of snow and humanity. To live here, the snow needs to evolve and she's the blueprint, "he began pacing, "she's what they need to become." He stopped and snapped his fingers at Clara, "when the snow melted last night, did the pond?"

"No." she answered.

"Living ice that will never melt." Star stated, "If the snow gets hold of that creature on the stairs, it will learn to make more of them. It will build an army of ice."

"And it will be the last day of humanity on this planet." The Doctor finished. They all stiffened as the doorbell rang, "stay here." He told them before pointing at Star; "I mean it." he left.

Star grinned and Clara smiled back as they left the room, following him.

"Oi, I told you to stay in there." The Doctor groaned.

"Oh, I didn't listen." Clara smiled innocently.

"You should be used to this," Star patted his shoulder.

"You do that a lot." The Doctor eyed Clara.

"It's why you like me."

"Who said I like you?"

"Star likes me."

The Doctor looked at Star who shrugged innocently, "What?"

He rolled his eyes, straightening his tie as Star pouted unable to do the same and they open the door to reveal Simeon standing there.

"Release her to us." Simeon stated, snowmen popping up behind him "you have 5 minutes." He walked away again and they closed the door.

"That was polite," Star blinked.

"We need to get her out of here, but keep her away from them." The Doctor remarked.

"How?" Clara asked.

"With this!" Star grinned, pulling an umbrella out of the stand by the stairs, "isn't that obvious?"

"Those creatures outside, what are they?" the father asked.

"No danger to you," the Doctor reassured him, "as long as we get that thing out of here! You, in there, now."

They stepped towards the stairs, Clara still with them, watching as the Doctor aimed the sonic at the force field, "what are you doing?"

"Between the three of us, I can't wait to find out," he used the sonic to move the force field behind them…and Clara, "right, if you look after everyone here, then we can…Clara!" he turned seeing Clara behind them but in the shield.

"Down!" Star shouted as the ice woman lunged at them, they dodged her and ran up the stairs.

"That was stupid!" the Doctor yelled at Clara.

"You were stupid, too!" She countered.

"We're allowed to be stupid," Star argued, "that's how we work!"

"That's the way to do it!" the ice woman mimicked Punch, following them.

"Why does she keep saying that?" Clara frowned.

"Mirroring," Star replied, "random mirroring. Right, the roof!"

"This way!" Clara grabbed their hands and led the way.

"I do the hand grabbing, that's my job, that's always me!" the Doctor pouted, more pouting that it was Clara holding Star's hand not him.

"There!" Clara pointed to the window that led to the roof.

The Doctor soniced it open, rushing through, turning and helping Star through, "come on, quickly!" he ushered Clara on, seeing her stopping halfway, "what's wrong?"

"My bustle is stuck." She groaned.

"Your bustle?!"

The Doctor put his arms around her and pulled her through, they fell to the ground, Clara lying on top on him, "you're going to have to take those clothes off!" he remarked before stuttering, "I didn't mean…"

"I know…"

"I just…"

"I understand. I do."

"Good. Means you can get up and shut up now, Star," he rolled his eyes at Star as the girl was literally rolling around in the snow, clutching her stomach as she giggled.

"I haven't laughed that hard in a while." She said quietly, getting to her feet.  
>"What's the plan?" Clara asked.<p>

"Who said we've got a plan?" the Doctor countered.

"Course you've got a plan. She took that." She gestured to the umbrella in Stars hand.

"Well, im insane," she argued, "and an idiot."

"You're not, you're clever, you're both are. Really clever."

"But are you?" she tossed the umbrella to Clara, "tell us what the plan is."

"That's the way to do it!" the ice woman cackled from the window.

"Is this a test?" Clara had to ask.

"Yes." They answered.

"What will it do to us?"  
>"Kill us. Which I don't really what it to do to my daughter."<p>

"That's the way to do it!" the ice woman turned into snow, blowing through the window.

"So come on the plan," the Doctor continued, "what is it?"

"I knew straight away." Clara tossed the umbrella back to Star as the snow reformed.  
>"Couldn't have." She gave it back.<p>

"Course I did." And back again.

"Show us!" the Doctor grinned as he took the umbrella from Star, tossing it to Clara.

"Why should I?"

"Because well be dead in under 30 seconds. So, plan?"

"If we'd been escaping, we'd be climbing down the building. If we'd been hiding, we'd be on the other side of the roof. But we're standing right here."

"So?"

"So!" she reached up with the umbrella and pulled down the ladder, "after you." she gestured for Star to climb.

"Thank you," she smiled, climbing the ladder

"After you." the Doctor smiled at Clara.

"After you, im wearing a dress." She pointed out, "eyes front, soldier!"

"My eyes are always front!" he argued, climbing up after Star.

"Mine aren't." she teased, watching him.

"Stop it!"

"No!"

Star cleared her throat, "stop with the banter." She laughed knowing Clara was only teasing.

Clara cleared her throat and faced the governess, "I understand you're the previous governess. I regret to inform you the position is taken." She stepped onto the bottom of the ladder and tapped it with the umbrella, "goodnight." The ladder rose up taking her to the landing at the bottom of the staircase leading to the TARDIS. "So you can move your cloud?" she asked, "you can control it."

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "no one can control clouds that would be silly."

"We can control the wind though." Star grinned, heading up the stairs.

"She's following us!" Clara gasped, looking down.

"That's the idea!" the Doctor nodded, running up after Star, "keep her away from the snow. So, barmaid or governess, which is it?"

"That thing is after us, and you want a chat?" Clara gaped, following.

"We work better multitasking!" Star called, "and you can't chat when you're dead."

"How did we get up so high so quick?" Clara frowned seeing them so high up already.

"Clever staircase," the Doctor replied, "it's taller on the inside!"

They reached the cloud at the top of the staircase and the Doctor aimed the sonic down it.

"What am I standing on, what this made of?"

"Super-dense water vapour," Star answered promptly, "should keep her trapped for a moment."

"So you actually live up here? On a cloud, in a box?"

"For a long time now." The Doctor nodded.

"Blimey, you really know how to sulk."

"Im not sulking!"

"You live in a box!"

"That's no more a box than you are a governess." The Doctor countered as he and Star entered.

"Oh, spoken like a man! You're the same as all the rest. Sweet little Clara, works at the Rose and Crown, ideas above her station!" she stormed in after them, "for your information, im not sweet on the inside and im certainly not…" she trailed as the Doctor switched on the lights revealing the TARDIS's new mechanical look, Gallifreyan symbols on the rotor above them, a small staircase leading to the corridors, the jump seat was gone and replaced with more controls around the railing, "little."

"It's called the TARDIS," Star explained, "can travel anywhere in time and space and is our home."

"But its…look at it, it's…"

"Go on, say it," the Doctor encouraged her, "most people do."

Clara ran back outside, looking around the outside before running back in and saying, "It's smaller on the outside."

"Ok," he blinked, "that's a first."

"Is it magic?" she wondered around the console, "is it a machine?"

"It's a ship."  
>"A ship?"<p>

"Best ship in the universe!" Star cheered.

"Is there a kitchen?" she asked randomly.

"Another first." The Doctor remarked.

"I don't know why I asked that, it's just…I like making soufflés."

"Soufflés?" the Doctor eyed her, thinking back to how Oswin was always making soufflés.

"Oswin…" Star breathed.

"Why are you showing me all this?" Clara wondered, standing by the open doors.

"You followed us, remember," the Doctor shrugged, "didn't invite you." he turned back to the console.

"You're nearly a foot taller than I am. Star may need the umbrella but you could easily with the ladder without it. You took it for me." she threw the umbrella at the Doctor, "why?"

The Doctor reached into his pocket, walking over, "I never know why. I only know who." Held her up a TARDIS key and placed in her hand, folding it.

"What's this?" she looked at her hand.

"Me. Giving in."

"Ha! 10 quid to me!" Star grinned.

"You were taking bets?" he turned to her as Clara wiped her eyes as tears fell.

"Yeah."

"With who?"

"Vastra and Jenny. I said Christmas, Vastra said New Years and Jenny said next summer. I win!" she threw her arms out wide.

He chuckled, rushing to the side of the console as Star took the other side, calling out to Clara, "Remember this, Clara, this right now, remember all of it. Because this is the day...this is the day everything begins!"

Or it would have been if Clara didn't give a scream of terror, they looked up to see her being dragged back by the ice woman.

"Clara!" Star cried, and she as the Doctor rushed to help.

"Get off of me!" Clara struggled to get free.

The Doctor aimed the sonic at the ice woman but nothing worked, "Water vapour doesn't stop ice, I should have realised!" the Doctor slapped his head.

"Get off!"

"Let her go!" Star shouted, "Let her go, right now! Or I swear..."

"Get off of me!"

"Clara!" the Doctor yelled.

The ice woman took another step back and both see and Clara fell of the cloud.

"CLARA!" they screamed, running to edge of the cloud, watching as she fell, her arms out as though reaching for them.

They ran to the TARDIS, trying to use the TARDIS to reach her but all they got was her lifeless body, the ice lady scattered around her.

~.~

They laid Clara down on a table in the study back in the house, Strax scanning her with Vastra device, trying to prolong her life as Star pulled up a chair as sat next to her, holding her hand. The Doctor had gone into the TARDIS trying to work out the ice woman but she couldn't bring herself for leave Clara's side, the girl was familiar to her but she didn't know how.

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS; Vastra went to speak to him. He offered Star a small smile with she returned and he sat opposite her next to Clara, taking her other hand, stroking her head as her eyes fluttered open, "Hello," he whispered to her.

"They all think I'm going to die, don't try?" she asked them weakly.

"And we know you're going to live."

"How?"

"I never know how." he pulled out the TARDIS key, "I just know who," kissed it and placed it in her hand, kissing her hand.

"The green lady...she said you were the saver of worlds once. Are you going to save this one?"

"Yes we are." Star promised.

"And after," the Doctor whispered, "do you want to go on an adventure with us?"

"Yes," Clara smiled.

"Well then," he kissed forehead, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Clara." Star rest her head on her hand.

The Doctor stood and straightened his tie and left the room.

~.~

It broke Star hearts, both of them, to sit by Clara side as the girl grew weaker, but she refused to leave her side, so she sat in her chair, her hand in Clara's. The Doctor had gone to deal with Simeon's and Vastra had gone with him, in fear of an attack.

The snowmen had grown in size and when they were about to attack, they melted into water, the falling snow doing the same, turning to rain, salting rain. Tears.

The children hugged their father, crying as Clara requested he held onto them.

Star closed her eyes, trying to peek into the Doctors mind to see if he was in trouble but she got nothing, except coldness, as though his mind was being frozen, hearing him screaming, but it wasn't long and then the TARDIS was back.

Still, Star didn't leave Clara side, even to give the Doctor a hug which she knew he needed.

"I'm sorry. There was nothing to be done," Strax announced, "She has moments only."

"We saved the world, Clara," the Doctor whispered to her, kneeling next to her, "We really, really did."

"Will you go back...to your cloud?" she asked weakly.

"No more cloud. Not now."

Star mouthed 'thank you' to him.

"Why not?" she closed her eyes.

"It rained."

"Run. Run, you clever boy. You insane girl." she opened her eyes again, looking at them, "And remember." she closed her eyes for the final time.

Outside, the church bells rang signalling midnight.

"It's Christmas." Jenny breathed, "Christmas Day."

"Merry Christmas, Clara." Star sighed, letting go of her hand as the Doctor came over and hugged her tightly.

~.~

The Time Lords stood in a small graveyard with Vastra and Jenny, watching as the human family mourned over Clara's grave, they stood a short distance away, giving the family privacy.

"And what about the Intelligence?" Vastra wondered. "Melted with the snow?"

"No," the Doctor sighed, "I shouldn't think do. It learned to survive beyond physical form."

"Well, we can't be in much danger from a disembodied Intelligence that thinks it can invade the world with snowmen." Jenny tried to joke.

"Or that the London Underground is a key strategic weakness." Vastra added.

"the Great Intelligence..." the Doctor frowned in thought, "rings a bell...the Great Intelligence?" he trailed seeing the full name of the gravestone, as the family left they approached it.

"Doctor?" Jenny called after them, "Star?"

"We never knew her full name." he mumbled, kneeling in front of the grave.

On the grave was the name; Clara OSWIN Oswald.

"Soufflé girl." Star breathed.

"Oswin, it was her."

"Impossible."

"It was soufflé girl again." he stood back up, "We never saw her face the first time with the Daleks, but her voice, it was the same voice."

"Doctor? Star?" Jenny tried again.

"The same woman, twice, and she died both times, the same woman!"

"What are you talking about?" Vastra shook her head.

"Something's going on."

"Something impossible." Star added.

"Something...right, you two stay here, stay right here, don't move an inch," he took Stars hand and they ran off.

"Are you coming back?" Vastra frowned.

"Doubt it!" Star called back.

"But where are you going?"

The Doctor stopped, "To find her, to find Clara." he and Star shared a laugh and continued running.

~.~

They hurried to the console and typed in some commands, "Clara! Oswin! Oswald!" he grinned.

"You watch us run!" Star cheered.


	9. the bells of saint john

Star smiled as she sat opposite the Doctor, both wearing monks' robes, a chessboard before them. Behind the Doctor was a painting of Victorian Clara, her phrase she'd called both times as she died. They'd come to Columbia 1207, to a monastery for some peace and quiet, and they got through a lot of chess games.

They'd been searching for Clara for a while, but with no luck, so they'd taken a break, some peace and quiet to help them think it through.

"Im sorry to intrude." The Doctor looked up hearing the Abbott, Star smirked under her hood, taking the opportunity to make her move, "the bells of Saint John are ringing."

The Doctor, being ever so dramatic, threw his hood back, "we're going to need a horse!" he made his final move on the chessboard but frowned, "you cheated!" he accused, pointing at Star.  
>"I won!" she corrected.<p>

"Cheated."

"Won. You're just a sore loser!"

"Yeah, well…" he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Come on lets go get Kimmy," She grinned, grabbing his hand, running out of the room to get the horse, her hood flying off her head at the action.

~.~

They rode through the woods on Kimmy the horse, Star holding on to the Doctor, the monk who had told them the news followed them.

They dismounted outside a stone doorway with another monk holding a torch waiting for them, leading the way into an underground cavern where the TARDIS was hiding.

"That is not supposed to happen," the Doctor frowned hearing a phone ringing, not from the console but the phone behind the instruction panel.

Star shrugged and answered the phone, "Hello!"

"Ah, hello." A cheery voice, with a hint of annoyance, answered, "I can't find the internet?"

"What?"

"It's gone the internet. Can't find it anywhere. Where is it? Why don't I have the internet?"

"Its 1207."

"I've got half past 3:00. Am I phoning a different time zone?"

"Yeah, you are. Hold on, let me pass you on." She handed the phone the Doctor, "im confused."

"Will it show up on the bill?" the woman on the phone asked.

"Oh, I dread to think." He muttered, pacing, making Star duck under the cord. "Listen, where did you get this number?"

"Woman in the shop wrote it down. It's the helpline, isn't it? She said it was the best helpline out there. In the universe, she said."

"What woman?" Star shook her head, "who was she?"

"I dunno, the woman in the shop. So why isn't there internet? Shouldn't it just sort of...be there?"

"Look, listen, I'm not actually…this isn't…" he sighed, "You have clicked on the wi-fi button, haven't you?"

"Hang on, erm…wi-fi?"

"Click on the wi-fi. You'll see a list of names. Is there one you recognise?"

"…it's asking me for a password." She replied after a moment.

"Is it ok if I go and see Nina?" the heard a voice in the distance, a young girl, "you can call her mum."

"Sure." The woman replied to her, "What's the password for the internet?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes as the woman pulled the phone away from her ear, "is it an evil spirit?" the monk asked.

"It's a woman." He told him, shaking is head as the monk crossed himself.

"Hang on." The woman came back on the phone, "just a mo. Run. You. Clever. Boy. You. Insane. Girl. And. Remember. One."

The Doctor and Star stared, wide eyed, at each other remembering what Oswin had said.

"Two."

And then what Victorian Clara had said.

"Three!"

"What did you say?" the Doctor shouted into the phone.

"Don't shout, you made me type it wrong. It's thrown me out again. What do I do, how do I get back in?"

"Let's go!" Star hung up the phone, grabbing the Doctors hand, "lets go find Clara!" thy ran inside the TARDIS and dematerialised.

~.~

As soon as the TARDIS had materialised they ran outside and to the door at the house in front of them. Star excitedly ringing the doorbell. There was something about this regeneration that seemed to love pressing buttons.

"Hello, yes I hear you," the heard someone getting closer, it sounded like Clara, "yep. Uh-huh." the door opened an they stood their, grinning in their robes, facing Clara, the girl staring blankly at them dressed in a dark red modern dress. "Hello?"

"Clara?" Star asked, beaming widely, "Clara Oswald?"

"Hello?"

"Clara Oswin Oswald!" the Doctor cheered.

"Just Clara Oswald," she shook her head, "What was the middle one?"

"Do you remember us?" Star cut in, jumping on the balls of her feet.

"No," she eyed them, "Should I? Who are you?"

"The Doctor!" he grinned, stepping inside, "And Star." She waved but Clara stared at them blankly, "No? The Doctor? Star?"

"Doctor who?"

"No, just the Doctor. Actually, sorry, could you just ask me that again?"

"Could I what?"

"Could you just ask me that question again?"

"Doctor who?"

"Ok, just once more."

"Doctor who?"

"Ok," he did a little dance, "oh! D'you you know, I never realised how much I enjoy hearing that said out loud," he smiled at Clara, "thank you."

"Ok," Clara closed the door on them.

"Hey! No!" Star huffed, "Clara, open the door. We just want to talk, please."

A moment later there was a buzz and Clara face appeared on a small monitor of the security system, "Why are you still here? Why are you here at all?

"You phoned us," the Doctor reminded her. "You were looking for the internet."

"That was you?"

"Yes it was!" Star grinned.

"How did you get here so fast?"

"We were nearby on our mobile phone," she gestured to the TARDIS in the background.

"When you say 'mobile phone' why did you point to that blue box?"

"Because it's a surprisingly accurate description," the Doctor remarked.

"Ok, we're finished now." Clara turned to monitor off.

"Oi, no, look."

"Maybe it's the monks' robes?" Star suggested.

"Yes, that must be it." the Doctor agreed, grabbing her had and leading back to the TARDIS, "Come on."

~.~

Star leaned against the door of the TARDIS, her monk robe gone and back in her usual attire. She'd been sent outside as the Doctor decided to get changed under the console instead of the wardrobe or his room. She was the clever one who wore the clothes underneath.

"Ta-da!" he grinned stepping out, spinning around to show her his new attire, "What do you thing? Cooler isn't it?"

He was wearing a buttoned shirt, lavender/grey vest, a longish dark purple coat, black trousers and his usual boots, complete with bow tie.

"Much better than tweed." she winked running back to the door and doing a small rhythmic knock.

"Really?" the Doctor looked at her.

"What?" she pouted before calling out to Clara, "Hello! Clara!"

The Doctor moved to the intercom, "Clara?"

"Hello?" Clara answered

"See? Look, it is! De-monked. Sensible clothes."

"Cool bowties," Star added. "So, can we come in?"

"I don't understand," Clara muttered.

"It's easy, you just open the door and we come in."

"I don't know..."

"Yeah you can!"

"...where am I."

Their grins faded, knowing something was wrong.

"I don't know where I am. Where am I? Please tell me, where I am! I don't know where I am."

Star threw her hands out and blasted the door open, thankfully still intact, they hurried inside seeing Clara lying unconscious on the floor at the stairs.

"I don't know where I am!" Clara continued.

"Clara!" Star dropped to her knees, at the girl's side as the Doctor scanned her with the sonic, "Clara!"

"I don't understand!" Clara continued, but it didn't come from her body, "I don't know where I am! Where am I? I do t know where I am. I don't know where I am!"

They turned to see a little girl standing on the stairs, but it wasn't a girl, her head was backwards with a large dish of some sort with Clara image on it.

The Doctor soniced the robot and the image changed to show basic Humanoid shape of a robot.

"Base station," Star stated.

He nodded, "A walking wi-fi base station, hovering up data. Hovering up people!" he realised how it had gotten Clara, the Internet. He ran upstairs as Star turned back to Clara, holding the girls hand.

The Doctor came back downstairs with Clara notebook and quickly typed away in the keyboard. "Oh no, you don't. Oh no, you don't."

"Don't worry Clara," Star comforted the girl, "Not this time, we promise you. You'll be fine." a moment later a light shot from the dish and onto Clara's fact, she gasped and coughed rolling onto her side. "See your fine." she smiled up at the Doctor, "You did it! You're brilliant!"

"One more thing," he remarked, typing away again and showing her a message he sent.

Under our protection- the Doctor and Star.

~.~

That night, Clara was tucked up in her bed, Star pulling the duvet over her, tucking her in as the Doctor pour water from a pitcher into a glass and set it on the bedside table, with a vase of flowers and set some jammie dodgers on a plate and took a bite of one before setting it back on the plate, half eaten. Star rolled her eyes and took the half eaten biscuit of the plate, she doubted Clara would want a half eaten biscuit when she woke up, if she was even hungry, not many people were hungry as soon as they awoke, thirsty, but not hungry, although she always was, the Doctor always made sure there was a banana next to her bed for when she woke up.

"What do you think off this?" the Doctor called, holding up a book '101 place to see', on the first page 'property of Clara Oswald' was written with her ages crossed out from 9 to 26. On the page opposite was a pressed leave. The Doctor, being the weirdo he was licked the leave, before putting it back in the book and putting the book on the shelf heading out the room.

~.~

The Doctor sat outside the TARDIS on a folding chair, working on the robot as Star sat on the ground as his feet on Clara's laptop.

"Hello?" they looked up to see Clara leaning out of her window.

"Hello." The Doctor smiled. "Are you all right?"

"Im in bed."

"Yes you are." Star laughed at the random statement.

"Don't remember going."

"No."

"What did I miss?"

"Oh, quite a lot, actually," the Doctor pulled out a small notebook from his coat pocket, "Angie called; she's going to stay over at Nina's. Apparently that's all completely fine and you shouldn't worry like you always do, for gods sake, get off her back." He flipped the page, "also your dad phoned. Mainly about the government. He seems very cross with them, I've gotta several pages on that," he flipped a few more pages, "I said I'd look into it. I fixed that rattling noise in the washing machine, indexed the kitchen cupboard, optimised the photosynthesis in the main flowerbed and…"

"And we assembled the quadrocyle!" Star cut him off, very excited about that.

"Assembled the what?" Clara frowned.

"We found a disassembled quadrocycle in the garage…didn't we?"

"I don't think you did?"

"Whoops." She shrugged.

"We invented the quadrocycle." The Doctor whispered in awe, "Hear that," he nudged Star, "we invented the quadrocycle."

"We rule!" she grinned, giving him a high-five.

"What happened to me?" Clara asked after a moment.

"Don't you remember?" the Doctor asked.

"I was scared. Really scared. I didn't know where I was."

"Do you know now?"

"Yes."

"That's what matters," Star smiled, "because you're safe now promise." She crossed her hearts, "night-night, Clara."

They went back to their work as Clara closed the window…only to open it again, "are you guarding me?" she wondered.

"Well, yes." The Doctor nodded, "yes, we are."

"Are you seriously going to sit down there all night?"

"Yes, promise. We won't budge from this spot."

"Unless I get hungry." Star countered, when she got hungry, she GOT hungry and it was best she ate before her stomach growled.

"Well, then. I'll have to come to you." Clara closed the window again, leaving Star and the Doctor confused to what she meant.

A few minutes alter Clara exited the house, carrying a tray of mug in one hand and a chair in the other. There was barmaid Clara peeking out.

"I like your house." The Doctor commented.

"It isn't mine, im a friend of the family." She remarked, giving them their mugs of tea and setting her chair down.

"So you look after the kids?" Star asked, sipping her tea, "you're a gov…nanny." She corrected herself; governess was too old fashion, if she called her that she'd wonder why.

"Just like…" the Doctor trailed.

"Just like what?" Clara frowned, sitting down.

"Just like…" he took a sip of his tea.

"Just like we bet," Star supplied, "I won! He said maid I said nanny."

She eyed them, not quite believing them, but shook her head, "are you going to explain what happened to me?"

"There's something is the wi-fi. The worlds swimming in wi-fi. We're living in wi-fi soup!"

"Suppose something got inside it." the Doctor continued, "suppose there was something living in the wi-fi, harvesting human minds, extracting them. Imagine that. Human souls trapped like flies in the World Wide Web, stuck forever, crying help." He looked down at that, thinking about how he had saved River to a computer.

"Isn't that basically twitter?" Clara joked. The Time Lords looked at her, "what's that face for?"

"A computer can hack another computer. A living, sentient computer…maybe that could hack people. Edit them. Rewrite them."

"Why would you say that?"  
>"A few hours ago you knew nothing about the internet," Star reminded her, "but you joked about Twitter."<p>

"Oh. oh." she blinked, just realised that she had, "that's weird. I know all about computers now in my head. Where did that come from?"

"You were uploaded for a while." The Doctor tried to explain, "wherever you were, you brought something extra back. Which I very much doubt you're going to b allowed to keep."

Star stood up, seeing a figure across the street under the lamp, knowing it was it was one of those robots, "we should get inside the box."  
>"What?" Clara blinked.<p>

"Please…in…now…"

"The three of us?"

"Trust us, you'll understand once we're in there." The Doctor remarked, unlocking the door.

"I bet I will," she murmured.

"Clara, please!"

"What is that box, anyway? Why do you have a box?"

"Clara!"

"Is it like a snogging booth?"  
>"A…what?" he stared at the absurd remarked as Star laughed.<p>

"Is that what you do, you bring a booth? There's such thing as too keen," she sipped her tea, "you shouldn't snog in front of the kids."

"Clara, look around you!" Star gestured to the lights in the different house come on, too many to be natural.

Clara looked at their worried expressions and turned to look for herself, "what's going on? Is it the wi-fi switching on the lights?"

"The wi-fi is making the people switch the lights on."

"What is that thing?" Clara gasped seeing the figure across the street.

"A walking base station," the Doctor said, "You saw one earlier."

"I saw a little girl."

"Must have taken an image from your subconscious," Star shrugged, "thrown it back at you. Active camouflage," he smacked his forehead, "they could be everywhere!"

Clara turned around; the danger always came from behind. She didn't see a robot by she did see something strange, "Doctor!" Clara shouted, "Star! What's going on?" they turned to see the lights going out, except their street, "All our lights on, everyone else's off. Why?"

"Some planes have wi-fi," Star swallowed.

"I'm sorry?"

"We must be one hell of a target right now." the Doctor breathed.

There was an engine roar from the sky; they looked up to see a plane headed straight for them.

"Box now!" the Doctor took Stars hand and Clara's in the other, running into the TARDIS. The Time Lords rushing to the console as Clara grabbed onto the railing to steady herself, her eyes widened as she looked around the room, "Yes it's a spaceship. Yes, it's bigger on the inside. No, we don have time to talk about it."

"But...but...but...it's..." Clara stuttered, slowly moving around the room.

"Shh," Star hissed, "Short hops are difficult for us."

"Ha!" the Doctor cheered, "You just admitted that you're not the best pilot."

"You've had centuries of more practice than me. I have a good reason."

He opened his mouth to argue when Clara cut him off, "Bigger. On the inside. Actually bigger."

The Doctor pulled a lever and there was a small spark before they ran to the doors. "Come on"

"Are we going back out there?" Clara asked.

"We flew away." Star told her, "It is a spaceship."

"Away from the plane?"

"Eh, kind of."

The Doctor stumbled out of the TARDIS into and out into the plane, the turbulence making them struggle down the aisle.

"How did we get here?" Clara shouted above the noise of the plane. Still holding her cup of tea.

"It's a ship," the Doctor explained as they made their way to the cockpit, "it's all very science-y!"

"Is this the plane, the actual plane?" she noticed the passengers unconscious, "are they all dead?"

"Just asleep." Star assured her, "turned off by the wi-fi!"

"Star…" the Doctor began.

"Yeah, sure…" she swallowed, taking a breath, her eyes flashing red as she stiffened, knowing that their was now a shield around the outside of the plane.

Clara's mouth opened as she stared at her

The Doctor soniced the cockpit door, he tumbled in, followed by Clara.

"What's going on?" Clara cried, "Is this real? Please tell me what is happening?"

"I'm the Doctor," he answered, "this is my daughter Star. We're aliens for outer space. I'm more than 1,000 years old. Stars 613. We've got two hearts and I can't fly a plane, can you?"

"No!"

"We'll do it together!" he pulled back the throttle as far as it would go, Clara screaming as she held onto him, the plane getting closer to the houses before skimming past them.

The Doctor laughed in relief, "do you think a victory roll would be too show-off-y?" he asked her as she continued to cling to him. "Star!" he gasped, quickly sonicing the wi-fi off and running to Star as Clara stood in shock before she followed after him.

He gently shook her as she blinked her eyes back to their usual green, "good job!" he beamed, "how are you feeling?"

"Im hungry." She breathed.

~.~

Clara stood in the TARDIS, still in shook, sipping the last of her tea, it took a lot of still to be able to hold her tea after all that but she had managed it, impressing the Time Lords at that, "Ok," she watched the Time Lords run around the console, "when are you going to explain what the hell is going on?"

"Breakfast." The Doctor stated, flicking a switch making the TARDIS lurch. "Sounds good?" he looked at Star as she sat on the stairs.

"Sounds excellent!" she beamed.

"What? I aint waiting till breakfast." Clara shook her head.

"It's a time machine. You never have to wait for breakfast!" The Doctor reminded her, stepping out into the daylight, Star and Clara following, to see a crowd over people applauding along the south bank, "thank you, yes, magic blue box," he pulled out a fez from his jacket, "all donations gratefully accepted," he passed it around to collect, "roll up, roll up, give us your dosh. Pennies, pounds, anything you've got." He handed Star the fez, "Have fun." He winked at her, "Just popping back to the garage." He went back into the TARDIS.

"Garage?" Clara spun around, but he was gone.

"Just you wait," Star grinned, before skipping off into the crowd, shooting them her best smile, getting them to dig into their purses and wallets for more money. Clara had to admit, it was a good plan to use Star to collect money, the girl seemed a naturally at showing off, getting people to like her to give them donation, not to mention, she was adorable.

"So, this is tomorrow, then?" Clara wondered, "Tomorrows come early."

"No, usual time. We took a short cut." She turned hearing an engine rev from inside and stepped out the way as the Doctor rode a motorcycle out, a small pod attached to it. She hurried back into the crowd, collected the last from pennies from the applaud of the motorcycle about to come out of the small box.

"Thank you," the Doctor waved, "thank you. Tomorrow is a..." he snapped his fingers at Star.

"A camel." She supplied.

"Yes! Tomorrow, a camel!" he handed Clara a helmet.

"Do you want me to ride in the pod?" She asked, hesitantly.

Star grinned, "please." She handed her the fez to look after as Clara sat in the pod, before she climbed onto the bike, behind the Doctor, securing her helmet.

"Right then," the Doctor smiled, "hold tight." He drove off and the headed to Westminster bridge.

"If you've got a flying time machine, why are we on a motorbike?" Clara shouted over the engines.

"We don't take the TARDIS into battle." Star called back.

"Because it's made of wood?"

"Wow, that's insulting!"  
>"Because it's the most powerful ship in the universe," the Doctor corrected, "and we don't want it falling into the wrong hands," he held up his hands before realising he needed them, "Ok?"<p>

They drove past the Horse Guards Parade and under Admiralty Arch.

~.~

"So," Clara finished her drink as they sat at a table at a rooftop cafe, finishing their breakfast, the Doctor and Star across from her, her laptop in front of them, although it seemed more in front of Star, she was typing away on it, slapping the Doctors hand away when ever he tried to type.

"If we can't travel anywhere in time and space, why did we travel to the morning? What's the point in that?" she asked them.

"Whoever's after us spent the whole night looking for us." the Doctor told her, "Are you tired?"

"Yes."

"Then imagine how they feel. They came the long way round. They've got to be close."

"Definitely London," Star nodded, "Going by the signal distribution. I can hack the lowest lever of their operating system, but I can't establish a physical location, the security...it just too good." she pouted.

"Really?" he blinked her.

"Are you aliens?" Clara cut in.

"Is that ok?" Star countered, silently telling her that her guess was correct.

"Fine, yeah. I think I'm fine."

"We're not evil aliens. Promise." she crossed her hearts.

"So what happens if you do find them? What then?"

"We don't know," the Doctor admitted, "We can't tell the future, we just work there."

"You don't have a plan?" Clara stared in disbelief.

"Oh, you know what I always say about plans,"

"What?"

"I don't have one."

"People always have plans."

"Yes," the Doctor trailed thinking of how Victorian Clara knew of their plan with the umbrella, "I suppose they do."

"So how long have you been looking after the children?" Star asked, changing the topic.

"About a year," she sighed, "since their mum died."

"Ok," the Doctor nodded, "but why you? Family friend. I get that, but there must have been others. Why did it have to be you? I mean, you don't really seem like a nanny."

Clara reached in for the laptop in front of Star, "gimme!"

"Eh?" Star pulled it towards her.

"You need to know where they physically are?" she tugged it back, "their exact location."

"Yes."

"I can to it."

"I need it!"

"You've hacked the lower operating system, yeah? I'll have their physical location in under 5 minutes. Why don't you and your old man get us a coffee."

"If I can't find it, you can't!" she stuck out her tongue.

"They uploaded me, remember? I've got computing stuff in my head."

"So do I." she tugged the laptop back, a tug of war starting.

"I have insane hacking skills."

"Daddy tell her!" Star whined.

"She's from space, the future with two hearts and...27 brains..." the Doctor cut in.

"And I can find them in under 5 minutes, plus photographs," Clara insisted before blinking, "27?"

"Not really 27 but it works as fast and as clever as having 27 brains." Star remarked.

"Coffee, go get. 5 minutes. I promise." she took the laptop of Star, "thank you."

She crossed her arms, pouting, "The security is absolute."

"Its never about the security, it's about the people." She began typing away.

Star jumped up, dragging the Doctor up with her, "I want a cup of tea."

They got up to go and get the drinks, when the Doctor stopped and just stared at Clara, she couldn't exist, she was impossible, but Star seemed to like her well enough.

Clara looked up, feeling his eyes on her, "why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"Sorry," he flushed at being spotted, "no, its nothing. It's just…you're a nanny. Isn't that a bit…Victorian?"

"Victorian?" she scoffed.

"You're young; shouldn't you be doing, you know, young things?" Star burst into giggles as he attempted to do the twist, "with…with…with…young people?"

"What, like you, for instance? Down, boy!"

"No, no, I didn't…shut up!" he stuck his tongue out at her and heading inside the café with Star.

"Two more cappuccinos and a tea over there, please." He called to the man behind the counter, smiling as Star admired the cakes and sweets on the counter top.

"One moment, sir." The man smiled, turning to get to work.

The Doctor picked up a scone and gave it to Star who grinned.

"You realise you haven't the slightest chance of saving your little friend?" the man turned back around, something different in his voice, making then stiffen.

"Im sorry?" Star paused, her scone in her hands.

There was a blue flash around the man, "I said one moment, miss," there was another flash, "I said, there is not the slightest chance you can save your little friend. And don't annoy the old man, he isn't, in fact, speaking." There was another flash and the man went back to work.

"Im speaking," a waitress came up behind them, "just using whatever's to hand. Oh, she's rather pretty, isn't she? Do you like her? I can make her like you too, if you want." There was another flicker and the waitress leaned back as the Doctor was in her face, "you all right, sir?"

"Um, yes," he nodded, "yes, fine."

"Im going to check on Clara," Star murmured, backing away outside, leaving the Doctor in the cafe. "You ok, Clara?" she asked her as she typed away.

"Sure," she replied, distracted, "setting up stuff, need a user name."

"Learning fast."

"Clara Oswald for the win! Oswin!"

Star stiffened, recalling how Clara the Dalek called herself Oswin. She shook her head and fixed a grin, "good name." she looked at the café to see the Doctor talking around to different people, the blue light around each of them. She looked back at Clara hearing her laugh, "What?" still continuing to work, Clara turned the screen slightly to show Star the photos of the workers who were following them, all of them working at the Shard. "High-five!" Star cheered, giving the girl a high five.

Done with her work, Clara sat back with a grin, "I did it. I really did, it did it. I found them."

"You found them." The Doctor said, coming out of the café.

"The Shard," she continued, not seeing Star stiffen, "they're in the Shard. Floor 65."

"Floor 65."

"Are you listening to me, Doctor? I found them!"  
>"That's not dad, Clara!" Star cut in.<p>

"I am listening to you." the Doctor repeated, "you found them."

As the Doctors hand turned back like how it did earlier, or more yesterday, she stood up, stepping in front of Star. it was her job to look after the kids, and she would, the head finished turning and a beam shot out of the dish.

"Clara!" Star screamed as the woman slumped forwards; she quickly grabbed her and gently lowered her on the table.

The Doctor, the real Doctor rushed out of the café hearing her scream, "What is it?"

"They got her," Star breathed, "she stood in front of me…she protected me." She reminded her of someone else who did that, her governess form Gallifrey, that woman was very fun to have around, was afraid but was fiercely proactive of children.

"Doctor?" Clara called from the dish, "Star? Help me. I don't know where I am. I don't understand. I don't know where I am! Please help me. I don't know where I am! I don't know where I am. Doctor, please, please, help me, Star. I don't know where I am!"

The Doctor whipped out the sonic and used it on the robot, she protected Star, even though it would have taken her own life, she protected her.

~.~

The Doctor and Star rode the motorbike across the waterloo bridge, a look of determination on their face as they.

They stop across the street from the shard, looking up at it, when a man with fish and chips stiffened, "really, a motorbike? It hardly seems like you."

"I rode this in the Anti-Grave Olympics, 2074." He remarked, "I came last."

"I came first!" Star grinned very smug with that fact.

"You cheated!"

"You're just jealous that im better than you!"

"The building is in lock-down," the man interrupted them, "im afraid you're not coming in."

"Did you hear the word anti-grav?" Star countered and the Doctor slammed a red button on the control panel, twisting the throttle and driving towards the Shard, travelling up the side of the building!

Stars eyes flashed as they approached the 67th floor, a hand out, and the window shattered.

They landed inside, hopped on the bike and sat, cross-legged on the desk, Star mimicking him. An entrance like that should have people entering right about…

The door open.

…now.

"Do come in." an older woman with short hair remarked dryly.

"Download her." The Doctor stated.

"Sorry about the draft." She gestured to the smashed window.

"Download her back into her body, right now."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"She's fully integrated part of the data cloud now. She can't be separated."

"Then download the entire cloud." Star rolled her eyes, "everyone you've trapped in there."

"You realise what would happen?"

"Yes, those still with bodies to go home to would be free." The Doctor stood.

"A tiny number," she waved them off, "most would simply die."

"They'd be released from a living hell. It's the best you can do for them, so give the order."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because im going to motivate you. Any second now."

"You two are ridiculous! Why did you even come here? Whatever for?"

"I came here," Star agreed, "but daddy didn't."  
>"What?" she blinked.<p>

"Im still in the café," the Doctor said. "Im finishing my coffee. Lovely spot."

"What are you talking about?"

"You hack people. Me?" he unclipped his helmet, "im old-fashioned. I hack technology." He removed his helmet, "here's your motivation!"

He stiffened and his head spun around revealing the dish.

"No, no. no!" the woman backed away, "not me! Not me!" a beamed shot out from the dish.

Star picked up the tablet and used it to increase one of the workers obedience. "Back in a sec." she winked at the robot before teleporting back to the cafe, the Time Lords leaving just before Clara awoke…

~.~

They took the quick way back. They parked the TARDIS outside the Maitland home. As they finished making sure everything was fine. They'd contacted UNIT about the employees at the Shard.

When there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Star called as she and the Doctor sat on the stairs, the Doctor reading a book, wearing Amy's glasses.

"So. They come back, do they?" Clara asked as she entered.

"You didn't answer my question." He replied.

"What question?"

"You don't seem like a nanny."

"I was going to travel," she sighed, "I came to stay for a week before I left and during that week…"

"She died," Star nodded, understanding, "you're returning the favour."

"You've got 101 places to see," the Doctor added, "and you haven't been to any of them, have you? That's why you keep the book."

"I keep the book cos im still going." She crossed her arms, leaning on the console.

"But you don't run out on the people you care about."

"Wish you were more like that," Star nudged him playfully.

"Oh, ha ha." He rolled his eyes at her.

"You know I love you," she pecked his cheek.

The Doctor remove Amys reading glasses and put them in his pocket, "you know, the thing about a time machine, you can run away all you like and still be home in time for tea," he stepped down and walked over to Clara, "so what do you say? Anywhere. All of time and space, right outside those doors."

"Does this work?" Clara laughed, "Eh? Is this actually what you do? Do you just crook your finger and people just jump in your snog box and fly away?"

"It's not a snog box!"

"Not for you." Star smirked, making him wag his finger at her.

"I'll be the judge of that!" Clara laughed.

"Starting when?" the Doctor asked, leaning against the console, trying at act casual.

"Come back tomorrow, ask me again."

"Why?"

"Cos tomorrow, I might say yes. Some time after 7:00 of for you?"

"It's a time machine," Star pointed out, "any times ok."  
>"See you then."<p>

"Clara?" she called as she was about to head out the door.

"Uh-huh?" she turned back.

"In your book there was leaf, why?"

"That wasn't a leaf, that was page one." She waved as she left.

"Right then, Clara Oswald." The Doctor turned to Star.

"Time to find out who you are." Star finished as they ran around the console.


	10. Rain gods

"What's the plan?" Star asked, as they were forced to walk by two guards with spears pointed at their backs.

"Why do I have to have a plan?" he countered, "You could have a plan. I chose the restaurant."

All they were planning on doing was going to a nice restaurant. the Doctor was determined to get as may Earth restaurants to sell fish fingers and custard for desert as possible, and Star agreed with him completely. But somehow the Doctor had piloted them to the planet of the rain gods. Star had 'accidently' insulted the worshippers and now they were getting sacrificed to the rain gods. It was times like this when Star agreed with River and they really needed a companion to keep them out of trouble like this.

"Yes, and now we're on the planet of the Rain Gods where we're now being sacrificed." Star reminded him with a huff, "I wanna plan! You do brilliant plans."

"Ok…plan is…we need to distract them with something before they actually sacrifice us to the Rain Gods. Then, when they're distracted, we run away."  
>"That's not a plan, that's not even a thing, that's just hoping!<p>

"Hey, it's a start." He pouted before sniffing the air, "Can you smell something?"  
>"Why are they sacrificing us to the Rain Gods anyway?" Star shook her head, she hadn't got a clue about the Rain Gods, had hardly heard of them except in a passing conversations. Never thought the need to learn about never, never expected to get sacrificed to them.<br>"Appeases their wrath. Apparently it's very good for the crops you know. Sacrificing. There IS actually some scientific evidence…"  
>"If you're asking for a death wish I can just stab you, you don't have to get burnt alive!" It was like every time she regenerated it was part of the 5 elements, her first was being forced by the High council, Earth because it was on the planet. the second was when she escaped the war with Davros' and Dalek Caan, that could be aether as she was teleported away. Then shot by a Dalek in the sky, air. Then she drowned, so that would be water and now it seemed like it would be fire from being burnt alive.<br>"Just looking on the bright side, sweetie." He grinned, when thunder clapped above them, "Ah! Hey, hey, and there it is! Oi! If there are any Rain Gods up there, you're rubbish!" he held his arms wide like a target, "Strike me dead if I'm wrong!"

"What are you doing?!" Star hissed.  
>"Smelling the Ozone, sweetie. Down!" he pulled her down to the ground, "Oh dear…"<br>"Daddy…"

Lightning clapped again and the Doctor jumped up with an umbrella, as it began pouring with rain, the two guards fell to the ground as they were hit by the lightning, "Ah! Ha, ha, ha, eh? Star…run! Ah, by the way! I think the rain gods are gonna do that again you know!" they ran off back to the TARDIS.

~  
>"That was your plan?" Star asked as they stood in the console room again, nice and warm and dry, with large mugs of tea each.<p>

"Well it worked didn't it?" he countered.  
>"Yeah," she sighed.<p>

Honestly, her dad was cursed, who else can accidentally end up nearly getting burnt alive but then luckily get out alive at the last minute. It still amazed her how he had survived this long. Not that she was complaining, she loved how close they got to death but always survived at the last second, she loved that rush and fear from almost dying but then still living.


	11. the rings of Akhatten

They'd seen many areas of Clara life. Seen her parents met, her mother saving her father from getting hit by a car as a leaf blew in his face making him stumble into the road, absolutely not Stars fault! Nope, she didn't make the leave blow into his face, of course she didn't, not at all, because she wasn't a matchmaker, nope, wasn't her. They'd seen her parent's first kiss. Seen a young her as she kicked a ball on the Doctors head. They'd seen her at her mothers grave, clutching her '101 places to see' book. And now they were back in the TARDIS, debating what she could be.

"She's just a girl." Star smiled, amused at how the Doctor was acting.

"How can she be?" he countered, bringing up the information on the Oswin version of her on the monitor. "She can't be." The image changed to her graduation, throwing her cap in the air.

"She is."

"She can't be."

"She's not possible." They finished together, Star mocking him.

"Yes, I gathered." Star rolled her eyes.

"You're not the least be curious?" he frowned at her.

"Oh, I am, but if you act like this around her, she'll get freaked out."

~.~

"Clara!" Star cheered opening the door for her.

The Doctor looked up, grinning, and pulled a lever making them stumble and grab onto the side railing.

"What was that?" Clara gasped as the shaking slowly settled.

"That was us getting into the vortex!" Star grinned.

"So we're moving through actual time?" she asked, making her way to the console, "so what's it made of? Time? If you can just rotor through it; it must be made of stuff, like jams made of strawberries. So what's it made of?"

"Not strawberries," Star pulled a look of disgust. Considering she had such weird tastes she didn't like strawberries, they left a weird taste on her tongue, strawberry milkshake was fine, but not strawberries in their own.

"That would be unacceptable." the Doctor agreed.

"And we can go anywhere?" Clara inquired.

"Within reason. Well, I say reason..." they can't go to New York or Gallifrey or the one place no traveller should go and really they shouldn't leave the universe, but still, they did it before. So they can go anywhere.

"So, we could go backwards in time?"

"Don't forget space!" Star grinned, "Forwards and backwards in space and time."

"So where do you want to go?" the Doctor smiled. "What do you want to see?"

"I don't know." she sighed, "you know when someone asks you your favourite book and you forget every book you've read?"

"Nope." Star shook her head. She remembered every book she'd ever read, even the first one she ever read, it was the first book the Doctor read to her. Alice in Wonderland always had a special place in her hearts. It was probably the reason why the Doctor never saw anything wrong with her being insane because all the best people were mad.

"Well. That's a thing. That happens."

"And?" the Doctor smiled, "back to the question."

"ok." she turned to pace, "so...so...so...so I'd like to see...I would like to see...what I would like to see is..." she turned to face the Time Lords, "something awesome."

The Doctor grinned and snapped his fingers, him and Star piloting them off...

~.~

Clara stepped out of the TARDIS, her eyes closed, Star leading her out, so she didn't trip.

"Can you feel the light on your eyelids?" the Doctor called closing the TARDIS doors.

"Mhmm," Clara nodded

"That's an alien sun," Star told her, moving Clara to the right spot, "There we go."

"Are you ready?" The Doctor asked her.

"Yes," she answered, "no. Yes." she slowly opened her eyes.

"Welcome to the Rings of Akhaten."

They were on a rock, an asteroid, floating in space, others rocks around it, surrounding a larger rock that looked like a city of some sort.

"It's..."

"It is." he agreed, "It so completely is. But wait! There's more."

"More what?"

"Wait, wait, wait," he checked his watch, "In about 5, 4, 3, 2..." the asteroids pass and on one was a large pyramid shining in the light as the sun hit it.

"What is it?" Clara breathed in awe.

"The Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten." Star smiled softly, "It's a holy site for the sun-singers of Akhaten."

"The who of what?"

"7 worlds orbiting the same star," the Doctor explained, "all of them sharing a belief that life in the universe originated here. On this planet."

"All life?"

"In the universe."

"Did it?"

"It's what they believe," Star told her, "it's a nice story. Always wanted to come here."

"Can we see it? Up close?"

"Please," Star gave him her puppy dog eyes.

"No," he whined, "you know I can't resist that look."

"Exactly."

"I'm resisting."

"You need to try something better than that," Clara whispered.

"I know just the thing," she smirked making the Doctors eyes widened as she walked past him, towards the TARDIS before running back and jumping on his back.

Clara laughed as he automatically kept her up on his back, as though he knew exactly what she was going to do.

"Please." she begged, "come on, you want to, I know you do. I can see into your mind."

"All right," he huffed, "we'll go. For Clara, not because, you're annoying."

"Im annoying and I know it."

~.~

The TARDIS set down in the middle of the market, hiding behind some stalls, the Time Lords hurried out, taking Clara with them. The girl staring in awe at the different alien species.

"Where are they from?" she breathed.

"Oh, you know," the Doctor shrugged, "the local system mostly."

"What do I call them?"

"well, lets see," he pointed as he named the species, "there go some Panbabylonians. A Lugal-Irra-Kush. Some Lucanians. A Hooloovoo. Ah! Qom VoTivig. That's chaps a Terraberserker of the Kodion Belt. You don't see many of them around anymore. Oh! That's an Ultermancer. You know, I forget how much I like it here, we should come here more often."

"You've been here before?"

"I haven't!" Star sent the Doctor a mock-glare.

"Yes," he nodded, "I came here a long time ago with my granddaughter." He walked off, not wanting to talk about it.

"Granddaughter?" Clara at Star in shock, thinking that she had a daughter.

"My, um, my niece." She swallowed.

"You have a niece!"

"Had," she corrected, "We're the last, Clara. We're the last of our kind."

"Oh my stars," she whispered, feeling terrible, "what happened?"

"There was a war. Everyone died. Come on," she took her hand walking off, "don't want to get lost." Clara bumped into a tall alien who shook its head at her before they continued on.

They quickly found the Doctor at a booth, beaming, looking at some glowing blue spheres in a bowl, "exotic fruit of some description," he scanned it with the sonic, "non-toxic. Non-hallucinogenic. High in free radicals. And low in other stuff, I shouldn't wonder." Clara took a bite but shook her head, "no?"

Star took one for herself, and grinned, devouring the rest of it.

"So, whys everyone here?" Clara asked.

"For the Festival of Offerings," Star explained, "takes place every…1,054 years. When the rings align. It's a very big thing, locally."

"Like Pancake Tuesday." The Doctor nodded.

"I want Pancakes."

The Doctor chuckled, he was waiting for that, "later." He promised, "With bananas."

"Yes!" she cheered, giving him a high-five, walking off again.

Clara turned around and came face-to-face with a dog-like alien, "whoa!" it snarled at her, making her lean back, "erm, Doctor, Star?"

The Time Lords headed back, and Star yapped at the alien, before petting her head.

"What's happening?" Clara frowned.

"This is Dory, well Dor'een." Star introduced, "Dor'een meet Clara. Clara, Dor'een."

"Doreen?"

"Loose translation," the Doctor shrugged, "she sounds a bit grumpy but she's a total love, actually, aren't you?" he tickled Dor'een under the chin, "yes, you are. She's just asking if we fancy renting a moped."

Dor'een moved out of the way to show them the moped.

"So, how much does it cost?" Clara wondered.

"Not money." The Doctor shook his head, "something valuable. Sentimental value. A photograph, love letter, something like that. That's what's used for currency here. Psychometry. Objects psychically imprinted with their history. The more treasured they are, the more value they hold."

"That's horrible."

"Better than paper."

"Then you pay?"

"With what?" the Doctor scoffed.

"You're over a thousand years old. You must have something you care about."

"Oh I do," he nodded, "but slavery is illegal."

"What?"

"The most important thing in my universe," he tugged Star closer as she grinned.

"Ah, sweet." Clara smiled.

"Is that that you call it?" Star laughed, "I'd call it clinging and obsessive."

"Oi!" he pouted.

Clara shook her head at them and turned around, when she looked back, the Doctor was gone, it was just her and Star, "where'd he go…"

"He complains about people wondering off but he goes and does it," Star tsked him.

The walked off to look for him when a young girl in a red robe ran into them, looking scared.

"Are you ok?" Star gasped.

The girl ran past them and two men also in robes approached them, "have you seen her?" they asked.

"Who?" Clara blinked.

"The Queen of Years."

"No," Star shook her head. The two men continued their search, "come on." She took Clara hand and they followed the girl, who she assumed to be the Queen of Years.

~.~

They entered a dark, cluttered warehouse, "hello?" Clara called…there was a crashing thud and the girl stepped out from behind some boxes.

"Hey!" Star waved, "are you ok?"  
>"Are you lost?" Clara asked.<p>

The girl stared at them a moment, before running off again.

"Come on," Star led her off, "we should help her."

Clara laughed, as Star tugged her off after the girl. She could see the Doctor in her a lot. The girl was playful and curious of everything and was clever; she was so full of life. Considering they didn't have plans, they certainly knew exactly what to do.

They walked along the rows off boxes, when there was a small scream from the girl and a crash before she ran out from behind the boxes.

"Hey!" Star laughed.

"Are you alright?" Clara asked, concerned for the girl. This time the girl didn't run but nodded, "what are you doing?"

"Hiding." She whispered.

"Oh. Why?"

"You don't know me?"

"I know you're the Queen of Years." Star offered.

"We just wanted to help." Clara added, "You looked lost."

"I don't believe you." the girl stepped back.

"I've got no idea who you might be." Clara admitted, "But Star says you're the Queen of Years. I've never been here before, never even been anywhere like here before. I just saw a little girl who looked like she needed help."

"Really?" she breathed.

"Really, really."

"We can help you." Star smiled, crossing her hearts.

"I need to hide." She told them, not disturb by Stars move, there were many two hearts species that she knew off.

"The TARDIS is the perfect hiding place!" Star cheered, "I hide in there all the time!"  
>Clara laughed, she could imagine the girl hiding around in there, she could imagine the Doctor trying to be all fatherly and make her do chores, like tidy her room, she could just tell that the girl would have a messy room and she'd never want to tidy it, she went through that stage, every girl did.<p>

"Come on," Star took the girls hand, leading them off.

~.~

Star and Clara led the girl to the TARDIS, managing to avoid the aliens that were looking for her along the way.

"What's this?" the girl wondered, eying the TARDIS.

"A space-shipping thing," Clara answered, "timey, spacey."

"It's teeny."

"Oi!" Star pouted, "She's bigger on the inside."

"You wait!" Clara grinned, pulling on the door but it wouldn't open, "Oh, come on."

"What's wrong?" the girl asked.

She stepped back and sighed, "I don't know. I don't think it likes me," she knocked on the door and pulled the handles, "come on. Let me in."

"Clara, you're trying to open a locked door." Star giggled, "She only opens for me," she pushed the doors open, but there was no budge, "huh. No, she does not like you. What's wrong old girl," she stroked the side of the box, "why don't you like Clara, is it because she called you an 'it' not a 'she'." She turned back to Clara, "you really should call her a 'she.'"

Knowing that the box wasn't going to open the girl snuck around the back of the TARDIS. "Hey!" Clara peeked around, "hey, little girl!"

"My names Merry." She replied.

"Nice to meet you Merry," Star sat down next to her, "im Star, and this is Clara."

"So what's happening?" Clara asked, resting against the TARDIS "is someone trying to hurt you?"

"No," Merry sighed, "im just scared."

"Of what?"

"Getting it wrong."

"Ok. Can you pretend like im totally a space alien and explain?"

"Im Merry Gejelh.

"Really not local. Sorry."

"She's the Queen of Years, Clara." Star rolled her eyes, "she was chosen when she was a baby, the day the last Queen of Years died."

"Ok."

"Im the vessel of our history," Merry explained, "I know every chronicle. Every poem. Every legend. Every song."

"Every single one?" Clara blinked, "blimey. I hated history."

"I love it!" Star grinned, "im good at it."

"And now I have to sing a song in front of everyone." Merry continued, "A special song. I have to sing it to a god. And im really scared."

"I know the feeling," Star murmured, "I get scared of singing in front of people too."

"Everyones scared when they're little," Clara remarked, "I used to be terrified of getting lost. Used to have nightmares about it. And then I got lost. Blackpool beach, Bank Holiday Monday. About 10 billion people. I was about 6. My worst nightmare came true."

"What happened?"

"The world ended. My heart broke. And then my mum found me. We had fish and chips and she drove me home and tucked me up and she told me a story."

"And you were never scared again?"

"Oh, I was scared lots of times. But never of being lost."

"Everyone gets scared, Merry." Star assured her, "so, this song? What are you scared of, exactly?"

"Getting it wrong." She sighed, "Making Grandfather angry."

"And do you think you'll get it wrong?" Clara countered, "Because I don't. I don't think you'll get it wrong. I think you, Merry Gejelh, will get it very, very right."

"And just remember, we'll be in the crowd, supporting you." Star took her hand, "if you get scared just look for us, we'll be there. Promise." She crossed her hearts as they walked back to the marketplace where the two men looking for Merry approached them. Merry looked back at Star and Clara who smiled encouragingly at her. She took a breath and allowed the men to lead her off.

They watched her go when the Doctor came up behind them eating one of the blue fruits, "what have you been doing?"

"The usual," Star smiled innocently, "helping people. The family business." And it really was starting to seem like a family business with them helping those who needed it. When in the far, far, FAR future the Doctor was gone (she'd make sure it was far in the future) she'd take over and become the main pilot for the TARDIS and continue travelling the stars with her own companion, helping those who need it.

"Where are we going now?" Clara inquired as they walked off.

~.~

They ran into the amphitheatre to see the priest escorting Merry to a small pedestal in the centre along the ledge, facing the temple.

"Shh!" the Doctor hissed as the skidded to a stop, "shh!" the climbed past the aliens to their seats, "sorry. Sorry, excuse me. Sorry. Excuse me." He sat down, Star besides him.

"Sorry, sorry" Clara followed them, sitting next to Star, the girl in the middle, "are we even supposed to be here?"

"Shh." They both hissed at her.

"But are we?"

"Shh!" they hissed again, turning to the aliens surrounding them, "sorry!"

Merry looked back at them. Clara nodded as Star gave her the thumbs up. She turned back to the temple, taking a deep breath and began singing. "Akhaten…oh, god of Akhaaaten..."

Clara frowned towards the temple, hearing another voice drifting over.

"They're singing to the Akhaten in the temple," The Doctor explained quietly, "they call it the Old God. Something Grandfather."

"Oh, god of Akhaaaten…" Merry continued singing.

"What are they singing?" Clara whispered.

"The Long Song," Star smiled, "a lullaby without end. To feed the old god. Keep him asleep. It's been going for millions of years."

"Choristers handing over to Chorister," the Doctor added, "generation after generation after generation.

"Akhaten…"

Clara looked around as the aliens held out their hands, each holding out something valuable to them. "What are they doing?"  
>"Those are offering," the Doctor remarked, "gifts of value. Mementoes to feed the Old God."<p>

Clara laughed as the offering turned into small bit of golden light.

"Oh, god of..." Merry continued, "oh god of…oh god of Akhaaaten…"

The audience join in the song. "Lay…" the Doctor joined in, but was too early

"Lay down…" the audience sung around them.

"Go on," the Doctor nudged Star, "join in."

"No." she blushed, she hated singing in front of people.

"Akhaaaten…oh god of…oh god of…oh god of…oh god of Akhaten." As soon as she finished there was a low rumbling. Merry turned to the audience; eyes wide in fear…all of them know something was wrong…

A beam of light shot out from the temple and grabbed Merry, lifting her off the pedestal.

"Ok, what's happening?" Clara breathed, "Is this suppose to happen?"

"Help!" Merry screamed.

"Is somebody going to do something? Excuse me? Is somebody going to help her?"

As Merry was pulled towards the temple, the Doctor and Star ran off, leaving Clara following them.

"Why are we walking away?" Clara demanded, as they walked through the stalls, "We can't just walk away. This is my fault! Star, we talked her into doing this!"  
>"I need to get something," Star said, running off to the TARDIS, as the Doctor turned to tell Clara what they do.<p>

~.~

She ran back and met them at Dor'een, "wait!" she cried, seeing Clara about to decide to give her mothers ring for the moped. "How about this?" she handed Dor'een her Theta bear.

"Star…" the Doctor began, that bear was so important to her, every night she slept with it even if she was supposedly too old, she didn't care, she loved it, she'd had it all her lifes, since birth.

"We need to help Merry," she looked at Dor'een as she sensed the importance of it, and stepped aside, allowing them on the moped.

"You are a star," he kissed her forehead. "My shining star."

"Looks like I chose the perfect title then," she smiled, getting on the moped at the very front.

"Hey," he blinked, "what makes you think you're driving."

"It was my bear that got us it."

"Touché." He got on behind her and Clara got on behind him.

She let out a small scream of surprise as the moped lifted off the ground and over the stalls.

They rode towards Merry as she was pulled closer to the pyramid.

"Merry!" Clara reached for her. She stretched, barely touching the girls hand; they grazed before Merry was pulled down into the temple with a scream. Star, with a look of determination, sped after her.

"Brakes!" Clara yelled, "Brakes!"

The moped came to skid stop.

"Ok, time to let go." The Doctor panted, as Clara had her arms gripped around his neck, her eyes shut.

"I can't." she breathed.

"Clara, you have to."

"Why?"

"Because it really hurts."  
>"Sorry." She released him from her hold.<p>

"Come on," they hopped off the moped and the Doctor whipped the sonic out and used it on the door.

"Oh, that's interesting," he checked the reading, "a frequency modulated acoustic lock. The key changes 10 million, zillion, squillion times a second."

"Can you open it?" Clara asked.

"Technically, no. in reality, also no."

"Like that's ever stopped you before." Star snorted.

"Yeah…let's give it a stab." He ran at the door…only to get a sore shoulder. "ow." He tried sonicing it again.

"How can they just stand there and watch?" Clara breathed.

"Because this is a sacred ground." Star replied.

"And she's a child."

"He's their god."

They heard Merry scream from inside, "We need to get inside. If the sonic doesn't work, I can't teleport us in..."

"Oh!" the Doctor smiled, "hello!"

"Hello what?" Clara frowned.

"The sonic's locked on to the acoustic tumblers."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, I get to do this." He aimed the sonic at the base of the door and it slowly rose, allowing them to see Merry inside an older man in red robe kneeling on the floor besides her, "hello there." He greeted, "Im the Doctor. You've met my daughter Star and our friend Clara. She was supposed to be having a nice day out. Still, it's early yet. Are you coming, then? Did I mention that the door is immensely heavy?"  
>"Leave. You'll wake him!" Merry turned to them.<p>

"Really quite extraordinarily heavy. Clara?"

Clara and Star ducked under the door, Clara making her way over to Merry, "Merry, we need to leave."

Star stayed with the Doctor at the door, flashing eyes, helping to keep it up.

"No." Merry shook her head, "go away!"

"Not without you."

"You said I wouldn't get it wrong and then I got it wrong! And now this has happened. Look what's happened!"

"You didn't get it wrong!" Star strained, the door was really heavy, despite both of them keeping it up.

"How do you know?" Merry countered, "You don't know anything! You have to go! Go now! Or he'll eat us all."

"Well, he's ugly." Clara glanced at the mummified body in the glass, behind Merry, "but you know, to be honest…" she stepped on the dais and smiled at Merry, "I don't think he looks big enough."

"Not our meat." She huffed, "our souls."

Clara reached out to Merry but the girl pressed a hand to her head, pinning Clara to the case by a purple force.

"He doesn't want you, he wants me. If you don't leave, he'll eat you all up too."

"Yes and you don't want that, do you?" the Doctor called, "you want us to walk out of this really quite astonishingly heavy door and never come back."

"Yes."

"I see. Right. Clara's right. Absolutely never going to happen." he turned the sonic off, Star letting out a cry of pain, falling to her knees as she kept it up long enough for the Doctor to get though, before letting it drop, panting, a thin layer of sweat on her face, as she breathed deeply.

"Did you just lock us in?" Clara gaped.

"Yep." The Doctor nodded.

"With the soul-eating monster."

"And is there actually a way to get out?"

"What?" the Doctor crouched next to Star, making sure is she ok, "before it eats our souls?"

"Ideally, yes."

"There is." Star assured her, leaning on the Doctor as he helped her stand. That took a lot from her, but thankfully she hadn't lost control of it.

"Doctor, why is he still singing?" Clara glanced at the priest.

"…rest your warily, holy head…" the priest sung.

The Doctor knelt in front of him, "he's trying to sing the Old God back to sleep. It's not going to happen. He's waking up, mate. He's coming, ready or not. You want to run."

"…hold head and…"

"That's it, then? Songs over?"

"The song is over," he stood up, "my name is Chorister Rezh Baphix and the Long Song ended with me." He pushed up his sleeve and pressed a button and his bracelet, dissipating into the air.

"That's it then! Songs over!" he turned and used the sonic on the mummy, who roared and leaned forwards on his throne "ha-ha! Look at that."

"You've woken him!" Merry cried.

"Its awake?" Clara gasped, "What's it doing?"

"He's having a nice stretch," Star commented, "but we didn't wake him," she turned to Merry, "neither did you. Its time for him to wake up. And feed. On your stories, apparently."

"She didn't say stories, she said souls."

"Same thing" the Doctor shrugged, "the souls made of stories, not atoms. Everything that ever happened to us."

"People we love." Star smiled,

"People we lost."

"People we found again."

"Against all the odds."

"He threatens to wake; they offer him a pure soul. The soul of the Queen of Year."  
>"Stop it," Clara whispered, "you're scaring her."<p>

"Good," the Doctor nodded, "she should be scared! She's sacrificing herself. She should know what that means." He walked over to the girl, "do you know what it means, Merry?"  
>"A god chose me." She breathed.<p>

"It's not a god!" Star huffed.

"It'll feed on your soul, but that doesn't make it a god," the Doctor remarked, "it is a vampire," he pointed at it, "and you don't need to give yourself to it."

"Let me tell you a story," Star crouched in front of the girl, "you may have heard of it, it's a good one," she winked, "all the elements in your body were forged many, many millions of years ago, in the heart of a far away star that exploded and died. That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of deep space. After so, so many millions of years, these elements came together and burst apart, forming shoes and ships and sealing-wax and cabbages and kings. Until eventually, they came together to make you. You're unique in the universe. These I only one Merry Gejelh. And there will never be another. Getting rid of that existence isn't a sacrifice. It is a waste."

"So, if I don't," Merry frowned, trying to follow, "then everyone else."

"Will be perfectly fine."

She looked at the Akhaten as it pounded on the glass, "how?"

"There's always a way."

"You promise."

"Cross my hearts," she crossed them.

Merry looked at Clara and released the field holding her, she ran over to them as the glass cracked.

"Having a nice stretch?" she glared at the Doctor.

He just laughed as they headed for the door…only for the ground to shake.

"Something's coming. What's coming?"

"The Vigil." Merry whispered.

"And what's the Vigil?" the Doctor blinked.

"Did you pay attention in the Academy," Star stared at him, but then again, she didn't.

"If the Queen of Years is unwilling to be feasted upon," Merry told them, "it's their job to feed her to Grandfather."

"Im sorry!" Merry cried as three creatures, white face, black suits with goggles appeared, "Im sorry!"

"Don't you dare!" Clara stepped in front of Merry as they advanced.

"Yeah, stay back." The Doctor warned, "Im armed. With a screwdriver."

"And I have insanity." Star stepped in front of both Clara and Merry.

One of the Vigils bellowed and the force knocked the sonic out of the Doctors hand, and then he was flipped in the air, landing on his back. A second one sent Clara back against the wall and the third strained against Star as she tried to throw them against the wall, and managed to over power all three of them, she tensed, keeping them against it.

"You know all the stories." Clara turned to Merry, "you must know if there's another way out."

"There's a tale," she nodded slowly, "a secret song 'the Thief of the Temple and the Nimmers Door.'"

"And the secret sons open the secret door? How does it go? Can you sing it?"

She sang a small tune and a door slid open.

"Go!" the Doctor ushered them out as he ran to Star, "time to go," he whispered, half carrying half dragging her out as the mummy let out an inhuman roar, a beam of light shooting from the top of the pyramid to the sun.

"Where did they go?" Clara frowned as the Vigils disappeared.

"Grandfathers awake. They're of no function any more."

"Well, you could sound happier about it."

Star blinked, coming out of her trace, "we made a small boo-boo."

"More of a semantic mix up, really." The Doctor winced.

"What boo-boo?" Clara narrowed her eyes at them.

"We thought the Old God was Grandfather but he wasn't. It was just Grandfathers alarm clock."

"Sorry, a bit lost. Who's the Old God? Is there an Old God?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

They looked up to the sun as it burned brighter, almost expanding.

"Oh my stars," Clara gasped, "What do we do?"

"Against that? I don't know. Do you know? I don't know. Any idea?"

"But you promised!" Merry cried, "you promised!"  
>"We did promise." Star agreed. "And we never break promises.<p>

"He'll eat us all. He'll spread across the system, consuming the 7 worlds. And when there's no more to eat, he'll embark on a new odyssey among the stars."

"I say leg it." Clara remarked.

"Leg it where, exactly?" the Doctor looked at her.

"Don't know. Lake district?"

"Oh, can we go there!" Star grinned, "We can have scones, I like scones. Plain scones though, not the ones with the raisin and things inside them or with jam, just scones and butter with tea. The scones are best in 1927. We should definitely go there…" she trailed as the Doctor smirked in amusement at her and Clara stared in disbelief, "im…im rambling aren't I?"

"I love it though," the Doctor wrapped his arms around her.

Clara looked up at the sun, "you're going to fight it, aren't you?"

"Regrettably yes," the Doctor admitted, "I think I may be about to do that."

"It's really big."

"Ive seen bigger."

"Really?"

"Are you joking? Is massive."

"Im staying." Star deadpanned.

"Me too." Clara agreed.

"No, you're not." The Doctor argued.

"Yes, I am. I can...assist."

"No, you can't."

"What about that stuff you sad? 'We don't walk away.'"

"No. we don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run. We run and run as fast as we can and we don't stop running until we're out from under the shadow. No, off you pop. Take the moped. You too, Star, no arguments."

"I. am. Staying." She stated.

"You. Are. Going." He countered, he cupped her face in his hands, "I need you to sing for me. Please go back with Clara and sing for me. Just do that for me, please."

She straightened his bowtie, "have a nice walk."

~.~

Star raced the moped back to the amphitheatre with Clara and Merry, skidding to a stop as they hopped off, and looked towards the temple and the sun.

"Isn't he frightened?" Merry asked as she held Clara's hand.

"I think he is." Clara nodded, "I think he's very frightened."

"I want to help."

"So do I."

"We can," Star said, "what are the words? To wake him up."

"You want to wake him up." Clara gaped.

"Trust me."

"Rest now, my warrior, rest now, hardship is over," Merry recited, "live, wake up, wake up and let the cloak of live cling to your bones, cling to your bone."

"Ok then," she took a breath and stepped on the pedestal.

"But you don't know the song!"

"I have the words." She countered, "Lets do it together, you in your language, me in mine ok?"

"Ok." Merry nodded, stepping up next to her, taking her hand.

Star closed her eyes, swallowing before opening her mouth and the words escaping in such a beautiful and ancient language, _"rest now, my warrior….wake up…wake up…and et the cloak of like cling to your bones…wake up…wake up and let the cloak of life cling to your bones…wake up, wake up…" _she opened her eyes as she finished the song.

"Come on," Star ran back to the moped, grabbing Clara's hand.

"I have something that can help." She said, getting on behind Star.

They raced back to the temple, quickly getting off and hurrying to the Doctor, who was on his knees. Star knelt down besides him, hugging him tightly, wiping away the tear on his cheek as he hugged her back.

Clara smiled at them as she stepped forwards, holding her book, "still hungry?" she asked the sun, opening the book, "Well, I brought something for you. This," she held up the leaf, "the most important leaf in human history. The most important leaf in human history. It's full of stories, fully of history. And full of future that never got lived. Days that should have been that never were. Passed on to me. This leaf isn't just the past, it's a whole future that never happened. There are billions and millions of unlived days for every day we live. An infinity. All the days that never came. And these are all my mums." She watched as a tendril absorbed the leaf.

"Well, come on, then." Star smirked, "eat up or are you full?"

"I expect so," the Doctor smiled, getting to his feet, "because there's quite a difference, isn't there, between what was and what should have been? There's an awful lot of one, but there's an infinity of the other. And infinity's too much. Even for your appetite."

The leaf was fully absorbed. They looked at each other as the sun imploded, leaving them in darkness.

~.~

"Home again, home again, jiggity-jig!" the Doctor smiled as they materialised at the Maitland home.

"It looks different." Clara remarked, peeking outside.

"Nope. Same house. Same city. Same planet. Same day, actually. Not bad," he pretended to swing a gold club, "hole in one!"

"It very rare when this happens." Star told her.

"You were there." Clara turned to them, closing the door and walking over, "at my mums' grave. You were watching. What were you doing there?"  
>"Don't know." The Doctor pretended to be busy at the controls, "I was just…making sure."<p>

"Of what?"

"You remind us of someone."

"Who?"

"Someone who died." Star said quietly.

"Well, whoever she was, im not her, ok? If you want me to travel with you, that's fine. But as me. Not a bargain basement stand-in for someone else. Im not going to complete with a ghost."

"You're just Clara." Star grinned hugging her. The girl smiled opening the door and stepping outside.

"Oh and do I having something for you." the Doctor flicked Star on the nose.

"Really?" her eyes lit up.

"Ta-da!" he pulled out Theta bear from inside his jacket.

"Theta Bear!" she rushed over and grabbed the bear, hugging him tightly, "did you steal him back."

"I don't not steal things!"

She merely gestured around them.

"Hey! I borrowed her!"

"Borrowing implies giving her back," she blinked, "oh; I even sounded like the old girl." They shared a laughed; "thank you!" she pecked his cheek, dashing off to put the bear back on her bed, where he belongs to help protect her from the nightmares.


	12. Cold war

The Doctor threw open the TARDIS doors, with a cry of, "Viva Las Vegas!"

Only for the room to tilt and send him stumbling against the control panel.

Clara and Star also stumbled out of the box, falling through the water that was filling up the room. It didn't help that they were dressed for Vegas.

Clara had gone for a simple short white/ silver dresses with no sleeves while Star had gone with a short purple dress with a thick golden rim around her neck, she keep her normal boot in except they were now golden to match her dress, she kept her hair relatively the same but had pinned her fringe back to give it a poof.

They stumble out and next to the Doctor, the TARDIS doors shutting behind them.

"Intruders in the bridge!" the young shipman shouted.

"Who the hell are you?" An older man, the captain they could guess, demanded.

The Doctor took of his sunglasses he had on as Clara shivered against the water, "not Vegas then!"

"No, this is so much better!" Star cheered, she was glad now that she had pinned her fringe back, in this water, she wouldn't be able to see if she left it down.

"A sinking submarine?"

"A sinking Soviet submarine!"

"And your excited about that?"

"Yeah!"

Clara shook her head at the girl. Only see could be excited to be on a sinking Soviet submarine while wearing a dress for Vegas.

"Break side arms!" the young shipman called, "restrain them!"

"410," another young man reported, "420! Turbines still not responding!"

"They've got to!" the captain turned to him.

"Ah!" the Doctor flashed the sonic, "Sideways momentum! You've still got sideways momentum!"

"What?"

"Your propellers work independently of the main turbines. You can't stop her going down but you can manoeuvre the sub laterally! Do it!"

"Get these people off the bridge now!" the shipman ordered and two men turned to grab the Doctor.

"Just listen to him," Clara called, "for gods' sake!"

"Geographically anomaly to starboard, probably an underwater ridge."

"How do you know this?" the captain frowned.

"Look, we have just a chance to stop the descent if we settle on it. Do it!" Star snapped.

"600 metres, sir," the young man reported, "610..."

"Or this thing is going to implode!"

"Lateral thrust to starboard, all propellers!" the captain ordered.

"Sir?" the young man looked at him.

"Now!"

"You're going to let these mad people give the ordered?" the shipman gasped.

"Lateral thrust!"

"Aye, sir!" the young man nodded, "660...680..."

Everyone held their breath as the submarine slid to a halt.

"Descent arrest at...700 metres." the young man breathed.

"It seems we owe you our lives," the captain remarked, "whoever you are."

"I'll hold you to that," the Doctor smirked, putting his glasses back up, "might come in handy."

"Search them." the shipman commanded, "yes, I know, it's a woman and young girl. Now search them!"

The crew pushed the three of them back against the pole in the middle of the room.

"Eh?" the Doctor shifted as they searched him, "ooh!"

"Are we going to be ok?" Clara had to ask as they crew hesitantly searched them.

"We'll be fine," Star assured her.

"Is that a lie?"

"I dunno...maybe." she blinked, before grabbed the man searching her, she grabbed his wrist, "Touch me and you wish you've never been born." The man pulled back.

"Control the temper, water and heat doesn't work together," the Doctor called, grinning, "Very dangerous time. Easy and west standing on the brink of nuclear oblivion. Lots of itching fingers on the button."

"Isn't it always like that?" Clara asked.

"Sort of. But there are flash points and this one, hair, shoulder pads, nukes."

"It's the 80's," Star shrugged, "everything's bigger!"

"Oi!" the Doctor frowned as a man took out a Barbie doll, a ball of twine and the sonic screwdriver from his pockets, "I'd like a receipt, please." he made a grab got the sonic.

But the captain pulled it back, "what is this?"

Suddenly the sub tilted making Clara loose her balance, "Clara!" the Doctor lunged for her.

"Doctor!" She cried.

"Clara!" Star reached for her as the TARDIS started to dematerialised.

"No, no, no, no!" the Doctor groaned, "no, not now!"

"You had to reset the HADS!" Star grumbled.

~.~

Star gently poked Clara awake as she leaded against the wall of a corridor, they were now in, giving Clara a drier place to wake up, one of the crew had also given her their jacket. "Yay!" she cheered, "you're awake!" She moved to rub her head when Star grabbed it, "if you rub it, you'll go bold, and you really don't want to go bald."

"Captain, we didn't know the type of your ship out here…" the Doctor was saying as he stood before the Captain.

"Yeah, well, that's till the rescue ship comes." The captain countered.

"If it comes!"

"Oh, the sinking is just a coincidence, is it? Who are you?"

Star helped Clara up as the Doctor was pushed against the wall.

"All right, Captain, all right. You know what? Just this once, no dissembling, no psychic paper, no pretending to be an Earth ambassador. Im the Doctor, that's my daughter Star and our friend Clara. We're time travellers. Clara, you ok?" he asked her.

"Think so." She nodded.

"Time travellers?" the captain blinked.

"You saw us arrive out of thin air!" Star cried.

"I didn't." an older man with headphone around his neck spoke up; by the looks of it he was a professor of some sorts.

"THAT is not our fault."

"We were sinking…" Clara frowned.

"Yes." Star nodded.

"What happened?"

"We sank." The Doctor stated.

"No, what happened to the TARDIS, I mean?"

"Never mind that. Listen…captain, breath's precious down here. Let's not waste it, eh?"

"You're right," the captain agreed, "maybe I can save a little oxygen by having you shot?"

"Kill us and you will sincerely regret it." Star threatened.

"What does it matter how we arrived?" Clara cut into the argument, "the important thing it to get…" her eyes widened seeing a creature in thick black armour walking towards them, "…out."

Star blinked, seeing the Ice Warrior behind them.

"Exactly!" the Doctor grinned, "Number one priority, not suffocating!" the captain stepped back seeing the creature stop behind them. "Thank you! Finally, seeing sense! Now, what sort of state is the sub in?"

"Dad…" Star poked him.

"What about the radio?" he continued, unaware to Star poking him, "Can we send a..."

"Dad!" she shouted, still poking him.

"What?" the Ice Warrior hissed behind him, "What is that? Gas? Could be gas!"

"Turn around!" she jabbed him with her finger.

He slowly tuned to see the Ice Warrior growling at him. "Ah…" he slowly back away and it followed him, "it never rains but its pours."

"We were drilling for oil in the ice," the professor told them, "I thought I'd found a mammoth."

"It's certainly not a mammoth." Star remarked.

"No."

"What is it, then?" Clara asked the Time Lords, seeing them seeming to know exactly what it is.

"It's an Ice Warrior." The Doctor answered, "a native of the planet Mars. And we go way back. Way back."

"A Martian?" the captain scoffed, "you can't be serious."

"Im always serious."

Star snorted.

"With days off."

"Doctor!" Clara hissed at him.

"Just keeping it light, Clara," he whispered back to her, "they're scared."

"They're scared? Im scared!"

One of the officers behind Clara aimed his gun at the Ice Warrior who lifted its arm with its weapon.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Star stepped in front of them, hoping that the Ice Warrior wouldn't shoot at her and pushed down the officers gun, "please, just wait! There is not need for this."

"You're confused, disorientated, of course you are," the Doctor nodded, "you've been lying dormant in the ice for, for how long?" he snapped his fingers, "how long, professor?"

"By my reckoning, 5,000 years." He offered.

"5,000 years? That's a hell of a nap. Can't blame you if you've got out the wrong side of bed. Nobody here wants to hurt you. Please, just, why don't you tell us your name?"

"What are you talking about?" the captain frowned, "It has a name?" "Of course it has a name, and a rank. This is a soldier. And it deserves our respect."

"This is madness. That is a monster!"

"And to him, you're the monsters." Star countered, "So please," she turned to the Ice Warrior, "what is your name?"

"Skaldak." It answered.

"What did you say?" the Doctor breathed as Star stiffened besides him.

"I am Grand Marshal Skaldak."

"Oh, no." the Doctor closed his eyes in fear…when Skaldak let out a growl and shudder before falling to the floor, face first unconscious. Behind him was the first mate, holding a cattle prod in his hand.

"Idiot!" Star cried.

"You…idiot!" the Doctor yelled at him, "Grand Marshal Skaldak."

"You…know him?" Clara eyed them.

"Sovereign of the Tharsisian castle, vanquisher of the Phobos heresy. The greatest hero the proud Martian race has ever produced."

"So what do we do now?" "Lock…him…up!"

"Restrain him!" Star added, "Do whatever you can."

~.~

They'd managed to chain Skaldak to the pipes in the torpedo room moments before he awoke before heading to the communications room.

"The Ice Warriors have a different creed." The Doctor explained, "A different code. By his own standards, Skaldak is a hero."

"It was said his enemies honoured him so much they'd carve his name into their own flesh before they died." Star added.

"Oh, yeah, very nice," Clara grimaced, "he sounds lovely."

"An Ice Warrior?" the captain shook his head, "explain."

"No time."

"Try me."

The Doctor sighed, rubbing his face, "Martian reptile known as the Ice Warrior. When Mars turned cold they had to adapt. They're bio-mechaniod, cyborgs. Built survival armour so they could exist in the freezing cold of their home world, but an increase in temperature and the armour goes haywire."

"Like with the cattle prod thing?" Clara followed.

"Exactly," Star nodded, "bit of a design flaw, wondered why they never sorted it out." She blinked, "wait…we said there wasn't time to explain!"

"Is he that dangerous?" Clara had to ask.

"This one is." The Doctor said.

"More than me?" Star wondered, she didn't think so.

"Definitely." He nodded, he may not have seen her at her worse, but…no matter how bad she made herself to be…he just…he couldn't picture it. He couldn't imagine his shining star to be that bad of a soldier.

Clara frowned, at that, at how Star was making herself out to be a soldier, but she couldn't be, she was just too innocent to have been, but she did say that there was a war which was the reason it was just the two of them, which might have been the reason she said that.

Star looked over hearing a small beeping coming from the professor's headphones, the man slipping them on his head. She glanced at the Doctor who nodded; both know what that beeping was.

"Why are we listening to this nonsense, captain?" the second in command demanded, "These people are clearly enemy agents."

"Eh?" Clara frowned.

"Spies, captain!"

"Pretty bad spies, mate. I don't even speak Russian!" The Doctor tried to shush her as Star winced.

"What?" the second in command looked at her.

"I don't…" she began to repeat herself, when something dawned on her; this was a soviet submarine, "am I speaking Russian? How come I'm speaking Russian?"

"Now?" the Doctor groaned, "we have to do this now?"

"Are they speaking Russian?"

"It's the TARDIS translation matrix." Star told her, "I'll explain later."

"In my opinion, comrade captain," the second in command turned to him, "this creature is a Western weapon."

"Are they?" Clara asked.

"Yes!" the Doctor insisted, "they're Russians!"

"A weapon?" the captain frowned.

"Survival suit," the second in command nodded, "what is the alternative? The little green man from Mars?"

"Correction. It's a big green man from Mars." the professor corrected.

"I do not appreciate your levity, professor."

"Why does that not surprise me?" the professor muttered, "maybe they're telling the truth."

"The truth?" he scoffed.

"Yes. A revolutionary concept, I know."

"It's essential that we inform Moscow of what we have found!"

"The radios out of action," the captain remarked, "in case you haven't noticed, Stepashin."

"They have our latest position. They will find us. When they do..."

"Yes?"

"Well, the cold war won't stay cold forever, captain."

"For gods sake, Stepashin, you're like a struck record! We have other priorities right now, I want you back on repairs immediately, we need to keep this ship alive. Dismissed."

"Sir...?" he glared the Doctor and Star down.

"Dismissed, Stepashin!"

The man stormed out of the room, Star watching in amusement of his tantrum.

The Doctor stood face to face with the captain, "all we needed to do was let Skaldak go and he'd have forgotten us. But you've attacked him. You declarer war. 'Harm one of us and you harm us all.' that's the ancient Martian code."

The beeping was heard over the headphones.

"Hear that," Star gestured to them, "Skaldaks sent out a distress call. He'll bring down the fires of hell just for laying a glove on him!"

"Unless you talk to it?" the captain inquired.

"I'm the only one who can."

"No. Out of the question. We're not losing you. I'll do it."

"What?"

"You can talk to it though me."

"Skaldak won't talk to you! You're an enemy soldier."

"How would he know that?"

"A soldier knows a soldier." Star stated, "He'll smell it on you! Smell it a mile off."

"And he wouldn't smell it on you, Doctor?" the captain asked him.

"Just let me in there before its too late," he replied instead, "it can't be you or any of your men."

"Well, it can't be you."

Clara cleared her thirst and they turned to her, "Well, there really is only one choice, isn't there? I don't smell of anything...to my knowledge."

The Doctor nodded, smiling, before realising what she had said and shook his head, "you? No! No! No way. You're not going in there alone, Clara. Absolutely not! No, no. Never!"

"She's...got a point." Star said slowly.

"Star!"

"You got another plan?!"

He sighed, "...no."

~.~

Star stood outside the torpedo room having set up Clara for the job and was waiting outside if anything was to go wrong, she told her to knock if something went wrong or if she needed help. Unfortunately the doors were thick and she couldn't hear the conversation but she was able to peek into Clara's mind, she really should tell her about that, and listen to what she was thinking as the Doctor told her what to say and do. She had no idea how long she was out there, in Clara's mind when she saw her panic as Skaldak got out of his armour, she quickly got the door open when a green streak rushed past her down the corridor, the opposite end as the Doctor.

"Star!" he rushed over to her, and she smiled reassuringly at him, "Clara!" he helped her out of the hatch, "Clara!"

"Im ok," Clara panted, "ha-ha, im ok, im ok! Where did he go? How did I do? Was I ok?"

"This wasn't a test, Clara." Star told her.

"I know but…"

"You were brilliant!"

"Really?" "really." The Doctor agreed.

"The signal," the professor murmured, "it's stopped."

The Doctor hurried over at that and listened, "Skaldak got no answer from his Martian brothers. Now he's given up hope."

"Hope of what?" the captain frowned.

"Being rescued. He thinks he's been abandoned."

"But what can he do stuck down here like the rest of us? How bad can it be?"

"This sub's stuffed with nuclear missiles," Star turned to him, "what do you think Skaldak will do when he finds out?"

"How bad can it be?" the Doctor mocked, "It couldn't be any worse." They jolted around as the sub moved in the ocean, opening a hatch and letting water pour in, "Ok, spoke to soon."

"Be quiet you." Star hissed as he grinned sheepishly.

~.~

In the control room, the captain informed his crew of what was happening, but the time travellers were paying no attention to what was being said as they sat at the controls.

"Even if a missile did get launched, that wouldn't be…it, would it?" Clara asked them.

"What do you mean?" Star looked at her.

"End of the world. Game over, I mean, what if they fired one by accident, what would happen then?"

"We told you, Clara." The Doctor remarked, "Earth is like a storm waiting to break, right now. Both sides baring their teeth, talking up war. It would only take one tiny spark."

"But the world didn't end in 1983, did it? Or I wouldn't be here."

"New. History's in flux. It can be changed."

"Time can be rewritten." Star stated.

The Doctor walked over to the captain, "how many of us are left?"

"12," he answered, "and we can't find Stepashin."

"We split up and comb the sub. One team stays here to guard the bridge."

"That's it? That's the plan?"

"Well, its either that or we stay here and wait for him to kill us."

"Ok." The captain nodded, walking away.

"Is it true you've never seen one outside of its shell suit?" Clara questioned.

"It's not a shell suit," Star told her, "and of an Ice Warrior to leave its armour is the gravest dishonour."

"Skaldak is desperate," the Doctor added, "he is deadly and we have got to find him."

"Will this help?" the professor walked over, holding the sonic.

"Ah!" he grinned, "you saved it!" he took it back.

"No, no, it was on the floor with this," he held up a Barbie doll.

"Ah!" he took the doll and kissed it, "ah, professor, I could kiss you!"  
>"If you insist."<br>"Later." He offered instead, the man shrugged and walked off.

"Why do you have a doll in your pocket?" Clara had to ask.

"Sometimes I like to play dolls with my daughter."

Clara turned to Star, who shrugged, "we get bored. I've already made him dress up as a princess."

"Really?" she blinked.

"Yeah. He cant complain or I'll kill him." she walked off after the Doctor leaving Clara standing that, shocked, that she had just so calmly said she'd kill her dad if he complained. But also, she could picture Star making him dress up as a princess, a pink frilly dress and glittery crown that would make some good pictures.

~.~

The Doctor, Star, Clara and the professor walked down a corridor, the Doctor scanning around with the sonic.

"So, why have you got a cattle prod on a submarine?" Clara turned to the professor.

"Polar bears." He replied.

"Ah, right."

"We run across them when we're drilling. Can be quite nasty, you know?"

"I'd swap one for an Ice Warrior any day. Cuddlier!"

"Courage, my dear." he laughed as the Doctor set an alarm off, "I always sing a song."

"What?" Clara frowned.

"To keep my spirits up."

"Yes, that would work…if this was Pinocchio."  
>"D'you know Hungry like the wolf?"<p>

"What?"

"Duran Duran, one of my favourites. Come on!"

"im not singing a song!" she shook her head as Star turned to alarm off as the Doctor opened a hatch and stuck his head out when there was an eerie groaning that they all head and made the Doctor pull his head out of the hatch, "what was that?"

"It's just the pressure." Star reassured her, "it happens when you 700 metres down."

"Don't worry about it," the professor waved it off, "think of something else, "da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. I am hungry like the wolf." He sung.

"Im not singing!" she insisted.

"Don't you know it?"

"Course I know it. We do it at karaoke. The odd hen night."

"Trouble words." Star whispered to her.

"Karaoke?" the professor shook his head, "hen night? You speak excellent Russian my dear, but sometimes I don't understand a word you're talking about."

They stopped when they heard snarling and growling and then screaming. They followed the sounds only to stop seeing two bodies on the ground, torn to pieces.

"Good god!" he breathed, "torn apart. It's a monster. A savage!"

"No, professor." The Doctor shook his head, "Not savage, forensic. Well, he's…dismantled them. Skaldak's learning. Learning all about you. your strength…your weaknesses…" he scanned around with the sonic, "come on!" he and Star ran off again, the humans following a moment later, they ran down another corridor when they stopped, "stay here." He ordered.

"Ok." Clara nodded.

"Stay here! Don't argue!" he began climbing a ladder.

"I'm not!

The Doctor blinked, realising this, "right. Good!"

"That's new." Star blinked as she climbed up behind him.

They hurried down the corridor to the manoeuvring room and found a body torn to pieces.

Star picked up a wallet to help identify the body, inside was Stepashin's ID card and a picture of a young woman, "oh, Stepashin." she sighed.

There was a metal rattling and retreating footsteps. They looked up, tensing, the Doctor pulling out the sonic and they followed it.

"Oh...oh...oh! He's fast..." the Doctor muttered.

Then they heard a gunshot and Clara scream and something roar. They ran back down the corridor and down the ladder, to see Skaldak grabbing the professors head, Clara panting, eyes wide in fear. They could only see Skaldaks red eyes.

"You attacked me!" Skaldak roared, "Martian law decrees that the peoria of this planet are forfeit. I now have all the information I require. It will take only one missile to begin the process. To end this cold war."

"Grand Marshal," Star called, "there is not need for this. Listen to us..."

"My distress call has not been answered. It will never be answered. My people are dead. They are dust. There is nothing left for me except my revenge." he growled and a beeping began.

"There is something left for you, Skaldak," the Doctor nodded, "Mercy."

"Mercy?"

"You must wear that armour for a reason, my friend. Let's see shall we?" the captain cocked his gun at Skaldak.

"No, captain, wait!" Star grabbed the captain gun and lowered it.

"I will do whatever it takes to defend my world."

"Yes, great, fine, but we're getting somewhere here," the Doctor countered, "were negotiating, 'jaw-jaw not war-war.'"

"Churchill?" the professor asked.

"Churchill," he nodded, pointing at him.

"Very well." the captain agrees, "well negotiate but from a position of strength." he trained the gun.

"Excellent tactical thinking." Skaldak chuckled, "my congratulations, captain."

"Thank you."

"Unfortunately, your position is not, perhaps, as strong as you might hope," there was a low growl and his armour arrived behind them. Skaldak streaked past them and into the suit, closing it behind him.

"He summoned his armour." Star stated.

"How did it do that?" Clara breathed.

"Sonic tech, Clara," the Doctor said, "the song of the Ice Warrior!"

A young crew member who had run in with the captain began firing at Skaldak, Star knocked the mans gun out of his hands.

"My world is dead but now there will be a second red planet!" Skaldak cried, "Red with the blood of humanity!"

"Skaldak!" the Doctor rushed after him, "Skaldak! Wait!"

But he continued on.

"He's arming the warheads!" the captain shouted.

"Where I'd the honour of condemning billions of innocents to death? 5,000 years ago Mars was the centre of a vast empire. The jewel of this solar system. The people of Earth had only just begun to leave their caves. 5,000 years isn't such a long time, they're still just frightened children. Still primitive. Who are you to judge them?"

"I am Skaldak!" he stated, "This planet is forfeit under Martian law."

"Grand Marshal, teach them!" Star shouted after him, "Show them another way! Show them there is honour and mercy. Is this how you want to be remembered? Do you want to be the Destroy of Earth?"

"Because that's what you'll be if you send those missiles," the Doctor remarked, "Not a soldier, a murderer. 5 billion lives extinguished." Skaldak grunted his hand over the launch button, "no chance for good yes. A world snuffed out like a candle flame!"

"Enough!" Star yelled, grabbing the Doctor sonic, "I'm a Time Lady, Skaldak, I know about sonic technology."

"Star..." the Doctor began, "Are you..." he trailed as she glared at him.

"A threat?" Skaldak scoffed, "you threaten me, Star?"

"I'm threatening all of us," she corrected, "don't think I won't blow this sub up before you event each that button, I will, Grand Marshal. I will send us all to oblivion without a second thought."

"You would sacrifice yourself?"

"Less than a heartbeat." she held the sonic up, turning it red, the Doctor putting an arm on her shoulder, agreeing with her.

"Mutually assured destruction!"

"Look into my eyes, Skaldak." the Doctor called, "Look into my eyes as tell me you're capable of doing this. Huh? Can you do that? Dare you do that? Look into my eyes, Skaldak, come on! Face to face."

Skaldak turned around, "Well, Doctor," he lifted up his helmet, showing them his face, "Which of us shall blink first?"

"Why did you hesitate?" Clara called, stepping up next to the Time Lords as they stared at Skaldak, stunned, "Back there, in the dark. You were going to kill this man, remember?" she gestured to the professor, "I begged you not to and you listened. Why show compassion then, Skaldak, and not now? The Doctor and Star are right. Billions will die...mothers, sons, fathers...daughters...you sang the songs..."

"Of the red snows." Skaldak finished.

There was a loud crashing and the submarine shook.

"What's happening?" Clara gasped.

"My people live!" Skaldak cried, "They had come for me!"

"We're rising," the captain stated, watching the depth gauge, "we're rising!"

"600 metres..." the professor read, "550..."

"We've surfaced," the Doctor grinned, "your people have saved us."

"Saved me, not you." he replied.

"Just go, Skaldak. Please. Go in peace."

He teleported away.

"We did it!" Clara cheered, "We did it!"

"Not yet," Star sighed, at the controls, "it's still armed. A single pulse...I will blow us up. I will do it!"

"Show mercy," the Doctor breathed, "Skaldak. Come on, show mercy."

"Da-da-da-dah I'm lost and I'm found and I'm hungry like the wolf," Clara began singing nervously.

A moment later the key port switch back and the lights in the room turned green.

Star turned to sonic off and passed it back to the Doctor, "now we're safe." She laughed.

Clara lunged herself on the Time Lords, hugging them tightly, before she pulled apart, "saved the world then?" she asked.

"Yeah." The Doctor smiled.

"That's what we do."

"Yes!" Star laughed, giving Clara a high-five.

~.~

The Doctor, Star, Clara and professor followed the captain out of the hatch at the top of the submarine, looking up at the Martian ship.

"The TARDIS!" Clara gasped, "Where's the TARDIS? You never explained."

"Oh, well, don't worry about that." The Doctor tried to wave her off, embarrassed.

"Stop saying that! Where is it?"  
>"He reset the HADS." Star told her.<p>

"Huh?"

"The HADS! The Hostile Action Displacement System. If the TARDIS come under attack, gunfire, time-winds, the sea," she gave the Doctor a pointed look, "it relocates."

"Oh, Doctor." Clara sighed.

"Haven't used it in donkey's years," the Doctor remarked, "seemed like a good idea at the time. Well, never mind, its bound to turn up somewhere!" the sonic buzzed in his pocket, "oh! Ha, see, right on cue! Brilliant!"

"Brilliant!"

"The TARDIS is at the Pole."

"Not far then." She head for the hatch.

"There's two Poles." Star pointed out.

"It's at the South Pole." The Doctor winced.

Clara stopped, "ah."

"Could we have a lift?" he asked the captain, who merely laughed with Clara at him and headed inside with a smiling professor.

He mock laughed, before he and Star saluted the ship as it flew off.


	13. Hide

The Doctor knocked on the large doors of a rather spooky looking house. Clara lowering her red umbrella as they huddled in the doorway out of the rain, the lightning still flashing around them when the Doctor put a finger to his lips and moved the to the side, waiting…

The door opened moments later and the Doctor stuck his head out, "boo!" he startled to two people inside who they had actually come to see.

"We're looking for a ghost!" Star grinned.

"And you are…?" the man, who they knew to be Alec Palmer, asked.

"Ghostbusters!" Clara joined in.

"Im the Doctor," the Doctor explained, holding in the psychic paper, "and this is my daughter Star and…"

"Doctor what?" Alec cut in.

"If you like. And this is Clara." He walked past the man. "Ah!" he cheered, as Star pulled him by his arm and over to the machine, excited, "but you are very different! You are Major Aleck Palmer. Member of the Baker Street Irregulars, the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare," he leaned and whispered to the man, "specialised in espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance behind enemy lines. You're a talents water-colourist, professor of psychology, AND…ghost hunter!" he shook the mans hand, "total pleasure. Massive."

"Actually, you're wrong," a woman who they knew was Emma Grayling, called, "Professor Palmer spent most of the war as a POW."

"Actually," Star countered, "that's a lie told by a very brave man involved in very secret operations."

"The kind of man who keeps a Victoria Cross in a box in the attic, eh?" the Doctor grinned, pointing at her, "but you know that! Because you're Emma Grayling…" he gave her two Gallic kisses, "the professors' companion."

"Assistant." She corrected.

"Its 1974, you're the assistant and 'non-objective equipment.'"

"Meaning psychic." Star whispered to Clara.

"Getting that," she nodded, moving to stand next to the girl.

"Relax, Emma," Alec called, "he's Military Intelligence. So what's all this is aid of?"

"Health and safety!" the Doctor grinned, "yeah, the Ministry got wind of what's going on down here. Sent us to check that everything's in order."

"They don't have the right."

"Don't worry, guv'nor, we'll be out your hair in 5 minutes, "oh!" he snapped his fingers at the equipment, "oh, look! Star look!"

"I am!" she smiled, playing with a switch next to her. "The ACR 99821. I love toggle switches. Love the word 'toggle' actually, it's a good noun. Also a good verb. Gotta love a good toggle switch," Clara went to flick the switch when Star slapped her hand away, "no touchy." She held her hands up in defence, "we don't need you messing up the settings, that's my job." She blinked, "am I rambling?"

"Just a little," the Doctor laughed, pulling out the sonic and using it on Alec and Emma.  
>"What's that?" Alec eyed it.<p>

"Gadget. Health and safety. Classified im afraid," he waved him off, "you know, while the back room boffins work out a few kinks." he scanned the archway.

"What's it telling you?" Emma asked.

"It's telling me that you haven't been exposed to any life-threatening transmundane emanations. So…" he spun around and clapped his hands, "where the ghost?" he joined them again and picked up a candelabrum, "show me the ghost." He tensed as there was an eerie whooshing sound.

"Its ghost time!" Star grinned, jumping on the balls of her feet in excitement.

The Doctor kissed her forehead, getting her to calm down on her excitement, before taking her hand and leading them join down a hall, Alec right behind them, Emma and Clara following.

"I won't have this stole out from under me, do you understand?" Alec asked.

"Erm, no, not really, sorry." The Doctor shrugged.

"I will not have my work stolen, then be shoved off with a pat on the back and a later from the queen. Never again! This is my house, Doctor, and it belongs to me."

"Nice house," Star commented.

"This is actually your house?" Clara blinked.

"It is." He nodded.

"Sorry. You went to the bank and said 'you know that gigantic old haunted house on the moors? The one the dossers are too scared to doss in? the one the bids are two scared to fly over?' and then you said, 'I'd like t buy it, please, with my money.'"

"Yes, I did, actually."

"That's incredibly brave."

"Or incredibly stupid." Star countered.

"Listen, major," the Doctor cut in, "we just need to know what's going on here."

"For the Ministry?" he frowned.

"You know I can't answer that."

"Very well. Follow me." He led them back to the parlour where he'd set up a board with picture and notes of the house's history and the ghost.

"So what's an empathic psychic?" Clara asked as she sat next to Emma.

"Sometimes, I…sense feelings," Emma offered "the way a telepath can sense thoughts. Sometimes though. Not always."

The Doctor drunk some milk from the bottle, "the most compassionate people you'll ever meet, emphatics. And the loneliest. I mean, exposing themselves to all those hidden feelings, all that guilt, pain and sorrow and…"

"Dad." Star called, seeing Emma's discomfort.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Ok."

"Would you, er, care to have a look?" Alec called and they all walked over to him, "Caliburn House is over 400 years old but she's been here much longer…the Caliburn Ghost. She's mentioned in local Saxon poetry and Parish folk tales. The Wraith of the Lady, the Maiden in the Dark…the Witch of the Well."

"Is she real?" Clara wondered, "As in, actually real?"

"Oh, she's real. In the 17th century, a local clergyman saw her. He wrote that her presence was accompanied by a 'dreadful knocking, as if the Devil himself demanded entry.' During the war, American airman stationed here left offerings of tinned Spam. The tins were found in 1965, bricked up in the servants pantry, along with a number of handwritten notes. Appeals to the Ghost…'for the love of god, stop scream.'"

"She never changes," Clara noted, leaning closer to the pictures, "the angle's different, the framing, but she's always in exactly the same position. Why is that?"  
>The Doctor held the candelabrum closer, examining the pictures.<p>

"We don't know," Alec admitted, "she's an objective phenomenon. But her objective recording equipment can't detect her…"

"Without the presence of a powerful psychic." Star finished.

"Absolutely. Very well done."

"She knows im here," Emma breathed, "I can feel her…calling out to me."

"What's she saying?" Clara called softly.

"'Help me'"

Star looked back, thinking she had saw something, but nothing was there, she glanced at Clara as the girl also looked back and frowned, "'the Witch of the Well' so where's the well?"

Alec led them to a table where the plans of the house rest on it, "a copy of the oldest plan that we could find, there is no well on the property. None that we could find, anyway."

Star gave the Doctor her 'puppy dog' eyes, "yes, yes," he rolled his eyes at her.

She pecked his cheeked and shuck up on Clara who was staring at the pictures. She tapped her on the head, making her gasp and turn around, making Star blink "you coming?" she whispered.

"Where?" she whispered back.

"To find the ghost of course."  
>"Why would I want to do that?"<p>

"Because you want to," the Doctor came over, "come on." He took Stars hand and they started for the door.

"Well, I dispute that assertion."

He glanced at Emma seeing her watching and jerked his head in a silent motion, "Im giving you a face. Can you see me? Look at my face."

"Why are we whispering?" Star asked. "They can hear us."

They glanced at Emma who nodded, "we can."

Clara looked sheepish as she walked over to them, "dare me."  
>"I dare you," Star grinned, "no going back now."<p>

Clara took the candelabrum from the Doctor and began walking out of the room, with Star. The Doctor clapped his hands and laughed before making to follow when Emma called out a suggested for them, "the Music Room is the heart of the house."

"Thank you," Star smiled, taking the Doctors hand and heading off after Clara.

"Say we actually find her," Clara began, "what do we say?"

"We ask how she came to be…" the Doctor replied, "whatever she is."

"Why?"

"Because we don't know," Star stated.

"And ignorance is…" the Doctor sighed, "what's the opposite of bliss."

"Carlisle?" Clara offered.

"Yes! Yes, Carlisle. Ignorance is Carlisle."

They past through the cobwebbed kitchen. And into the music room in the heart of the house. As soon as they entered the darkened room they felt something automatically. The room was relatively empty with music stands around the edge, the Doctor scanned around with the sonic as Clara stood in the middle of the room and looked around, while Star kicked some of the dust up, frowning at it.

"Ah, the music room," the Doctor muttered, "the heart of the house. Do you feel anything?"

"No," Clara answered quickly.

"Liar liar, pants on fire," Star teased in a sing-song voice.

"Do you feel like you're being watched?"

The Doctor tapped the sonic to get it working properly, making Star keep close knowing ghosts affect instruments, "what does being watched feel like? Is it that funny tickly feeling on your neck?"

"That's the chap."

"Then, yes, a bit. Well, quite a big bit." He put the sonic away.

"Very big." Star added.

"I think she's here," Clara murmured, turning around as though hearing something.

"Cold spot," the Doctor said, seeing his breathe in a certain spot, "spooky, cold," he stepped forwards, "warm," stepped back, "cold," he stepped to the right, "warm," back, "cold," he stepped to the left, "warm," and back towards the door, "cold." He pulled out a piece of chalk and marked a circle around the cold spot.

"Doctor?" Clara called, "Star."

"What?" Star looked over at her.

"Im not happy."

"It's okay, we're going now," She smiled, taking her hand and following the Doctor out of the room, catching up with him in the hall passing a window when they heard a thudding sound.

"What was that?" Clara breathed.

There were two more thuds. And the Time Lords breathed out seeing it was visible. A gust of air blew out the candles. And the Doctor and Star grinned at each other.

"This is just like the Tower of Terror." Star cheered.

The Doctor laughed, taking her hands and rubbing them in his, she may be enjoying this but he didn't want her to get cold. Clara glanced at the window as it frosted.

"Ok, what is that?" Clara demanded, hearing two more thuds.

It's a very loud noise." Star grinned.

"It's a very loud, very angry noise." the Doctor agreed.

"But what's making it?" Clara rolled her eyes; of course they would be enjoying this.

"I don't know. Are you making it?"

There was another loud thud, "Star," Clara whispered.

"Yeah?" she whispered back.

"I may be a teeny, tiny bit terrified."

"And?"

"But im still a grown up."

"In human term, yes."

"There's no need to actually hold my hand."

She looked at her hands, one in the Doctor and the other out in front of her, neither in Clara's hand. "Im not holding your hand."

They looked at her hands and they turned around to see the outline of…something in the flash of lightning.

Clara screamed and the Doctor grabbed Stars hand as she wanted a better look at whatever that was, and they ran off back to the parlour. Honestly, Stars curiosity would get her killed one day, she'd just walked into danger, not even thinking about the consequences.

They ran into the parlour to see a dark whirling dish appear before them, the Doctor took the sonic out and scanned the dish, "has this happened before?" the Doctor asked.

"Never!" Alec cried.

"Camera! Camera!" he took the camera from Alec, and took pictures of the spinning dish as it spun faster and faster and a crack began to form inside it.

Emma gasped as the heard an eerie scream.

"Doctor!" Clara gasped, seeing a figure appear in what looked like a wood.

The Doctor spun around and continued snapping pictures.

"Help me!" the ghost screamed…when Emma collapsed and it disappeared.

"Doctor!" Clara shouted, as there was a crash from upstairs, they followed her gaze where a message glowed on the wall 'help me' it faded away and the disc disappeared.

"Well that was spooky." Star remarked, and the humans turned to her to see her rather amused at their reactions, they were all terrified and she just stood there, like their hadn't been a ghostly encounter.

~.~

The Doctor, Star and Clara huddled under her red umbrella as they ran through the rain and back to the TARDIS. It had been quiet in the house as the Doctor looked at the photos with Alec and Clara had gone to talk to Emma, while Star stood in the hallway, watching as the rain pour down and the lightning stuck, thinking of what the ghost could be, it had to an alien or something along those lines, it couldn't be a real ghost, ghosts aren't real. That's what got her confused as to who Clara was, she obviously wasn't a ghost, and the woman had no idea about her other versions. But it could be Spatial genetic multiplicity, it was a possibility.

"I've got this weird feeling its look at me." Clara whispered, staring at the old girl.

"The TARDIS is like a cat," the Doctor shrugged, recalling what Star had told him about what happened on Akhaten, "sometimes she's a bit slow to trust but everyone get there in the end."

"Sometimes she doesn't even like him," Star added, "but she adores me." she pushed the door open without needing a key and ran in.

The Time Lords hurrying to the console, hearing a knock on the door, looking back they saw the TARDIS had locked Clara out.

"Hey!" she called as the Doctor went to let her in, "you need a place to keep this." she added, looking for somewhere to put the umbrella.

"We've got one," he pointed to where the umbrella stand was or used to be as it wasn't there, "or had one...I think we had one. Look around, see of you find it. Did we have one? Am I going mad?"

"I'll give you some tips." Star looked up, she noticed Clara shaking the umbrella, "hey! No." she took the umbrella off her, "no doing that. She's soaking wet now! She's not going to like you for making her all wet." she looked around when a umbrella stand appeared next to the chair, "ah ha!"

"Sorry," Clara whispered, looking up at the TARDIS ceiling, getting a low hum in response, "so..." she came up to the Time Lords at the console, "where are we going?"

"Nowhere." Star stated.

"We're staying right here." the Doctor agreed, "right here, on this exact spot. If I can work out how to do it."

"I wanna do it." Star shoved the Doctor out of the way and getting to work.

"So, when are we going?" Clara asked.

"Oh, that's good." the Doctor laughed, "top notch."

"Brilliant." Star smiled, "high-five." she held up her hand and Clara came round to high five her.

Clara leaned against the console, "and the answer is...?"

"We're going always." The Doctor answered, headed down under the console.

"'We're going always.'" Clara raised an eyebrow as she leaned over to look down at the Doctor.

"TOTALLY."

"That's not actually a sentence."

"Well, it's got a verb in it," he defended coming back up to the console in a bright orange spacesuit, "what do you think?"

"My eyes! I can't see!" Star laughed, pretending to be blinded by the brightness.

"Colour's a bit boisterous." Clara agreed.

"I thought it brought out my eyes," the Doctor pouted.

"It blinds mine." Star stated, pulling a lever making them grab onto the console.

~.~

They'd gone to quite a few different moments in history. The beginning of the Earth to the very end, with moment's in-between, including prehistoric and Victorian. Star remained in the TARDIS with Clara as the Doctor went out to snap photos. She noticed Clara getting more upset and quite as time went on.

"Clara?" Star eyed her as she sighed, "You ok?"

"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked as he came back in the TARDIS, taking his helmet on, "did the TARDIS say something to you?" he walked up to the console and slapped it lightly, "are you being mean?"

"No, it's not that," Clara offered them a sad smile, "Have we just watched the entire life cycle of the Earth? Birth to death?"

"Yes."

"And you're ok with that?"

"Yes."

"How can you be?"

"Its how we're raised Clara," Star offered, "we're brought up from a young age, we're used to it."

"I mean," Clara sighed, "...one minute you're in 1974, looking for ghosts but all you have to do is open your eyes and talk to whoever's standing there. To you, I haven't been born yet...and to you. I've been dead 100 billion years. Is my body dead out there somewhere? In the ground?"

"Yes, I suppose it is." the Doctor nodded slowly.

"But here we are, talking. So I am a ghost. To you, I'm a ghost...we're all ghosts to you. We must be nothing."

"No..." the Doctor turned to her, "no...you're not that." he headed up the stairs to get changed.

"Then what are we? What can we possibly be?"

"You are...the only mystery worth solving." Star offered to her.

~.~

"Right!" the Doctor cheered as he and Star finished setting up in the parlour while Clara and Emma spoke quietly to the side, "done! That's it, gather round, gather round. Roll up! Roll up!" he used the sonic in the projector, "the ghost of Caliburn House, never changing, trapped in a moment of fear and torment but what if she's not? What if she's just trapped somewhere time runs more slowly than it does here? What if a second to her was 100,000 years to us?"

"And what if somebody has a magic box," Star added, "maybe a blue box, and what if said somebody could take a snapshot if her, every few million years?" the slide showed the Doctors photos of a young woman in a white spacesuit running towards them.

"She's not a ghost..." the Doctor told them, "but she's definitely a lost soul. Her names Hila Tacorian. She's a pioneer, a time traveller, or at least she will be, in a few hundred years."

"Time travels not possible," Alec argued, "the paradoxes."

"Resolve themselves." Star finished for him, "by and large."

"How long has she been alone?" Emma wondered.

"Well, time travels a funny old thing," the Doctor remarked, "I mean, from her perspective, she crash landed," he looked at his watch, "3 minutes ago."

"Crash landed? Where?"

"She's in a pocket universe," Star began.

"A distorted echo of our own," the Doctor explained, "they happen sometimes but never last for long," he blew up two balloons, "our universe," he held up the balloon in his right hand, "Hila Tacorian's here," he held up the balloon in his left hand, "in a pocket universe. You're a lantern, shining across the dimensions, guiding her home. Back to the land of the living," he brought the balloons closer to each other before deflating them.

"But what's she running from?" Clara frowned.

"We don't know," Star grinned, "should we look?"

The Doctor used the sonic to change slides. Emma's smile faded, Alec lowered his glasses as Clara and the Doctor looked stunned. The image was a creature with a twisting elongated neck.

"Hello." Star tilted her head at the image.

"What is that?" Clara breathed.

"I don't know," the Doctor said quietly, "still!" he clapped his hands, "not to worry!"

"So, what do we do?" Emma inquired.

"Not 'we', you," he walked over to Emma, "you save Hila Tacorian because you're Emma Grayling. You are the lantern, the rest of us are just along for the ride, im afraid. We need some sturdy rope and a blue crystal from Metebelis 3."

"And some Kendal Mint cake." Star added, "Im hungry and I like cake."

"We have some in the TARDIS."

"Well what are we waiting for? Come on," she dragged him and Clara back to the TARDIS.

~.~

Clara sat on the floor of the console, her legs dangling down the railing as Star sat next to her, eating her cake, both peering down watching the Doctor work. "Can't you just…y'know?" Clara called.

"What?" Star looked at her.

"Fly the TARDIS into the parallel universe?"

"Ah, its no a parallel universe. It's a POCKET universe. Plus, it's collapsing," the Doctor pocketed and gathered up some rope, walking back up to them.

"The TARDIS could get there," Star remarked, "but entropy would bleed her power source. Trap her there until the entire universe decayed back into the quantum foam. And that would take about 3 minutes."

~.~

Star examined the wires leading form the TARDIS to the music room that they had hooked to a tripod, on the top was a large white egg object.

"What is that?" Clara reached out to touch it.

"A subset of the Eye of Harmony." The Doctor slapped her hand away.

"I don't..."

"Of course you don't. Be weird if you did. We barely know ourselves. Right you," he moved to help Emma sit on an armchair set up, "sit down," he placed a crystal wire crown, with the crystal in the middle on her head. "All the away...from Metebelis 3."

"What does it do?" Emma frowned.

"It amplifies your natural abilities," the Doctor said as he soniced the clocks around the room, "like a microphone. Or..."

"A pooper-scooper!" Star suggested.

"What exactly is this arrangement?" Alec asked as the clocks began to tick.

"A psychochronograph." Star answered as she helped the Doctor into a harness.

"Forgive me, but isn't it all a bit, well…make-do and mend?"

"non-psychic technology wont work where im going," the Doctor told him, "all I need to do is dive into another dimension, find the traveller, help her escape the monster, get home before the entire dimension collapses and Bobs your uncle."

"Doctor?" Emma called quietly, "will it hurt?"

He bent down to her lever, "no," and stood back up, "well, yes. Probably. A bit. Well, quite a lot. I don't know. It might be agony. To be perfectly honest, I'll be interested to find out."

She glanced at Alec who nodded, taking deep breathes she began to speak, "im taking to the lost soul that abides in this place. Im speaking to Hila Tacorian."

Star held onto Emma's hand, offering her silent support knowing that it was going to hurt, as the clocks went haywire, some spinning backwards, some forwards. Emma gasped as the spinning disc appeared again over the chalk drawn circle, creating a bright light and a high wind.

"See?" the Doctor grinned at them, "the Witch of the Well! It's a wormhole! A reality well! A door to the echo universe!"

"Ready?" Star asked Emma, squeezing her hand.

"READY!" she cried.

The Doctor offered an encouraging smile as he turned to the wormhole, cracking his neck, "Geronimo!" he shouted jumping in.

"Doctor!" Clara shouted, Alec holding her back as they squinted in the light.

"Doctor!" Emma shouted, feeling herself weaken, "DOCTOR…come home! Doctor, we're here! Doctor! Doctor!" the woman held onto Star hand so tightly, it started to turn white, "im not strong enough!"

"Just a few more seconds!"

She screamed in pain, as she tried to hold on, when the winch began to move. And Alec quickly cranked the room, pulling Hila into the room with a cry.

"Just a little longer, Emma," Star edged her on, "come on, you can do it. Please."

But she couldn't do it, she fell out on the chair and to her knees, the crown falling of her head and the portal disappearing.

"No!" Clara cried. Alec rushing to Emma side, both he and Star supporting her. Clara ran to the doorway but the portal was gone, the Doctor still in the pocket universe

"Wake up!" Clara ordered Emma, "open the thing!"

"Im sorry." Emma sobbed in Alec's chest.

"You did so well." Star offered an encouraging smile.

"Don't be sorry," Alec stroked her hair, "what you did…"

"Wasn't enough," Clara cut her off, "she needs to do it again."

"Clara!" Star turned to her, "with me." She grabbed her hand, and ran out the room and to the TARDIS, where Star pushed the door open but they didn't budge.

"Oh, come on!" Clara groaned, "Let us in you grumpy old cow!"

"Clara!" Star snapped at her, "you calling the old girl a grumpy old cow is not gonna make her like you." and then a projection of a young girl with bright red hair in a ponytail on top of her head appeared before them, "oh, not her, anyone but her." The image changed to Idris. "That's better, hello again, old girl."

"Whoa." Clara blinked, realising it was a hologram.

"It's the TARDIS Visual Voice Interface. A hologram."

"That's the TARDIS?"

"Yeah."

"What about red?"

"That was me."

"No it wasn't." she shook her head.

"Regeneration. Explain later." She waved her off.

"The Doctor is in the pocket universe." The hologram stated.

"You can enter the pocket universe." Clara remarked.

"The entropy would drain the energy from my heart. In 4 seconds, id be stranded. In 10, I'd be dead."

"You're talking but all I hear, is 'meh, meh, meh.' Come on lets go!"

"Are you challenging me, old girl?" Star tilted her head and as the hologram disappeared, she swore she saw a smirk on the face. Yes, that was a challenge. She pushed the door open and ran into the console, stroking it fondly, "help us, help him. please." She added and there was a small hum before a jolt and they grabbed onto the console for dear life.

"Is she flying herself?" Clara shouted.

"You called her a 'she'!" Star cheered, "And yes, she does that."

Star ran to the doors and opened them allowing the Doctor to stumble in, she hugged him tightly, laughing as he hugged her back. Both forgetting Clara was there for a moment.

~.~

The group walked out of the house, Clara little ahead of them standing with Alec and Hila as the Doctor leaned against the door with Star as Emma came up behind them, "you wanted a word?" she guessed.

"Well, if that…" the Doctor began.

"That's fine."

"You didn't come here for the ghost, did you?"

"We came for you." Star nodded.

"Why?" she wondered.

"We needed to ask you something." The Doctor said.

"Then ask."

"Clara…what is she?"

"She's a girl."

"Yes, but what kind of girl? Specifically."

"She's a perfectly ordinary girl. Very pretty…very clever…more scared than she lets on."

"Is that all?" Star frowned; she was hoping there would be more of a mystery to solve.

"Why? Is that not enough?"

The Time Lords glanced at each other, that hadn't been of much help as they had hoped.

~.~

Alec stared at the TARDIS as Emma and Hila hugged, the Time Lords and Clara joining them.

"Where will you go?" Emma asked Hila.

"They can't take me home," Hila replied, "history says I went missing."

"But they can change history."

"No, no, no, we cant, actually." The Doctor interrupted, "there are fixed points in time you see…"

"Daddy." Star called.

"What?" he looked at her as she pulled him away.

"I knew you were there…" Hila told her, "I could feel you."

"I know…" Emma smiled.

"Have we…?"

"We can't have. You haven't even been born yet."

"No, you can't have met but she can be your great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter," the Doctor beamed as Alec walked over hearing them, "your too, of course! But you'd guessed that already, hadn't you?" they stared blankly at him, "oh, apparently not."

"The paradoxes…" Alec frowned.

"Revolve themselves," Star said. "It's why the psychic link was so powerful. Blood calling for blood."

"Out of time," the Doctor slapped Alec's arm "not everything ends, eh? Not love. Not always."

"Doctor, Star," Alec followed them as the headed to the TARDIS, "what about, what about…us? Emma and me?"

"What about you?" the Doctor blinked.

"Well, what's supposed to happen? I mean, what do we do now?"  
>"Hold hands," Star stated. "and don't let go."<p>

"That's the secret." The Doctor nodded, clapping his hands, when he frowned, remembering something and he smacked his forehead, "im so…slow! I am slow, im notorious for it, that's always been my problem, but I get there in the end."

"After a while." Star laughed.

"Doctor?" Clara eyed them, "Star?"

"How do sharks make babies?" he turned to her.

"Carefully?"

"No, no, no, happily!"

"Sharks don't actually smile. They're just…well, they've got lost and lots of teeth, they're quite eaty."

"Exactly! But birds do it, bees do it, even educated FLEAS do it."

"Every lonely monster needs a companion." Star smiled.

They ran to the side of the house where they could look inside only to see a creature there, "there's two of them?!" Clara gasped.

"It's the older story in the universe," the Doctor explained, "this one or any other. Boy and girl fall in love; get separated by events, war, politic, accidents in time. She's thrown out of the HEX, or he's thrown into it. Since then they've been yearning for each other across time and space, across dimensions, this isn't a ghost story, it's a love story!" they ran back to the others, "excuse me! Excuse me! Sorry to interrupt the rest of your life. So…tiny favour to ask..." he turned to Emma.

~.~

The Doctor went back into the pocket universe to bring the creature back to their universe while Star and Clara clung onto the TARDIS tightly as they flew across the dimension to bring them back.


	14. Journey to the centre of TARDIS

Clara walked around the console, arms crossed as the Doctor eagerly followed, Star watching highly amused from the steps.

"You said…" the Doctor began again.

"I know what I said," Clara rolled her eyes; "I was the one who said it."

"You said I was looking at you funny." Well so Star had told him she'd called the TARDIS a grumpy old cow.

A cow!

She'd called the TARDIS, their beloved TARDIS, a cow. They needed to sort of their relationship if she was going to be their companion.

"I was tired. Overwrought. I didn't mean it. It's an appliance. It does it job."

"An appliance!" Star cried, outraged, "that's worse than grumpy old cow!"

"And it's a pretty cool appliance," the Doctor tapped the console fondly, "we're no talking cheese grater here!"  
>"You're not getting me to talk to your ship," Clara argued, "that's properly bonkers."<p>

"It's ok. Its ok." The Doctor stroked the console.

"You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are." Star quoted.

"You're like one of those guys who can't go out with a girl unless his mother approves." Clara continued.

"Its important to us you get along," the Doctor remarked, "Star and I could leave you alone together."

"Now you're creeping me out."

"Alright," Star jumped up and skipped over, "how about a piloting lesson?" she offered.

"Sounds good." She nodded.

"I'll make it easy; shut it down to basic mode for you." the Doctor told her.

"Basic!" Clara raised an eyebrow in mock-offence, "cos im a girl?"

"No, cos your human." Star blinked, "Im a girl but im better than him."

"Oi!" the Doctor pouted, turning a key taking it to basics.

~.~

Clara smiled as they lesson actually went quite well. Not only was she learning how to pilot a spaceship, but the box they lived in and was also bonding with the old girl at the same time. She reached for a switch and flicked it as they didn't stop her, she assumed it to be the right one…when the room went dark. "What have I done" she quickly pulled her hand away and the lights flashed red.

"Er…ok." The Doctor frowned, moving to look at the monitor that began to crack.

"Doctor?"

"All the electrical impulses are jammed." He flicked a few switched,

"I can't get the shields back up," Star grunted trying to push a lever up, "she's completely vulnerable."

"I swear I just touched it." Clara insisted.

The Doctor came over to help pull the lever down and succeeded…only for sparks to fly and the TARDIS to lurch, throwing the three of them backwards.

"Magnetic hobble-field." The Doctor called, as he made his way back to the console "we're flying right into it. Clara stay by me."

Clara struggled to make her way back to the console and grabbed on tightly, "please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this."

"A big friendly button." Star nodded from the other side of the console.

"Are you lying?" she eyed her, she was never sure if the girl was lying or telling the truth.

"Yup."

"To stop me freaking out?"

"It's meant to work." She pouted.

"Well its not."  
>A device rolled onto the floor and Clara picked it up only for it to burn her hand and dropped it with a gasped.<p>

Another explosion went off and they screamed…

~.~

Star slowly came to, she was lying on the floor in one on the corridors, the emergency lights glowing red and a flat piece of metal lying on her. She moved the metal off her and looked around to see she was alone, "Doctor?" she called, "Clara?" she rolled her eyes, of course it was just her luck to have gotten separated and trapped in the TARDIS.

She jumped up and headed down the hall, aiming for the console room, knowing she'd be able to either get out or at least contact them from there. At the end of the hall she came to a closed door with a red light flashing above it.

"Red light," she murmured, "warning light. Gonna avoid that for now."

She continued on and round the corner to a clear corridor when something on the wall caught her eye. A long claw like scratch running along it, putting her hand up to it and it matched her hand.

She swallowed hard, being even more cautious now as she continued on.

She tensed hearing a growl. It wasn't like she was scared, it actually took quite a lot to scare her nowadays, she could get freaked out or spooked but not scared, mainly because she knew the Doctor would always make sure she was safe.

But still, she didn't want to find out the source of the growl, so she quickly opened the door and found herself in the storage room; she closed the door and smiled at the sight. Directly in front of her was the cot, her cot, Rivers cot, whoever else needed a cot. She swiped her hand along the mobile, smiling to herself and spotted the toy TARDIS Amy made as a child, the Doctors multicoloured umbrella and a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes, Rory's penlight…

She blinked and took a step back; wanting to be sure she had seen that. Ignoring the hums around her when she had indeed seen what ever that was and she quickly ran out of the room.

"You know I don't understand you when you hum." Star called quietly to the TARDIS as she hummed. The old girl was fond of her and did try to protect her, but she couldn't understand her hums, she wasn't a TARDIS farmer and she hadn't been brought up near TARDIS so naturally she couldn't understand them.

She ran down the corridor, the creature following her, although she was sure this one was a different one. She past the observatory and the pool. She spotted a door, the door to the library, brilliant, she ran in and ducked behind a shelf, she peeked around the edge of the shelf, seeing the creature pass and ran down another row, the best thing about the library was the many levels and rows to hide down.

She ran up the stairs to the next level and looked down, looking for the creature, "where are you?" she whispered to herself, "show yourself." She squinted down the far isle to see a shadow creature, a small one, not child height, but…Clara height. Seeing the creature over at the far end, she hurried back down the stairs and out the way she came in and ran down the corridor, needing to get to the console room, but needed something else first.

She ran into her bedroom, grabbing Theta bear and froze, hearing a growl outside the door. She stayed still and quiet, hoping it wouldn't know she was there and would pass.

Slowly she peeked out her door and let out a breath to see the corridor clear, no creatures in sight. She ran down the corridor to the console room.

~.~

"Oh thank god." She breathed as she found herself in the dark console room.

She ran up to the console and brought the scanner round when a piece of the controls fell off. She frowned and picked it up, the way it fell, like it was knocked off.

She began to type a message 'Hello old man.'

'Are you ok?' was the response.

'Fine. Are you, is Clara?'

'We're fine.'

She let out a breath and kissed two fingers placing them on the rotor, knowing the Doctor was likely doing the same, "thank you, old girl."

'I need to get to you' she typed.

She gasped, hearing footsteps outside the room and one of the creatures stepped into the room. "Any moment now!" she called out, despite the Doctor couldn't hear her.

She stepped back to where the doors should be and closed her eyes when she felt someone holding her tightly, and squeezed onto the Doctor, hugging him tightly.

"It's all right." He whispered to her, "im so, so sorry. Please, please forgive me…"

"You're always forgiven." She snuggled into his chest.

"I'm glad you're ok." Clara ran over and hugged her, "he is lost without you."

"Hello," she smiled, noticing two black men there with them, "who are you? Im Star."

"Tricky…" the young of the two said, eying the Doctor at how quickly he went from threatening them to smiling widely just by her being there.

"And you?" she looked at the older one.

"Gregor," he answered.

"Your ok..." the Doctor breathed, keeping her in his arms. he had been terrified whwn he discovered she was still in the TARDIS, in danger, gone out of his wits to get her back, and now she was safe and in his arms.

"Care to tell us what that creature was Doctor?" Clara asked, crossing her arms.

"You encountered one too?" Star looked at them.

"Too?" the Doctor stiffened.

"Yeah, I ran away from them. Went to get Theta bear." She hugged the bear to her chest, "I got lonely. I forgot how lonely being alone could get." She added quietly.

"Alright, alright," Gregor cut in, "a deals a deal. You got your girl back. Now cancel the self-destruct."

"There's a self destruct?" Star blinked.

"Ah, yes," the Doctor nodded slowly, "the…self destruct. Yeah, there is no self destruct. Hey! Hey! Hey! Had you going, though, boys, didn't I? I just wiggled a few buttons. The old wiggly-button trick. And the face, you've got to do the face, 'save her or we all die'. I thought I rushed it a bit, but…"

"So you're telling me we're safe?" Tricky frowned.

"Ish. Apart from the monsters and the TARDIS reinventing the architecture every 5 minutes. Guys, don't worry, the countdowns a fake. Look, just give me just a second. I'll turn it off." He flicked a few switches, "I only made it look as though the engine was actually exploding." An alarm when off, "ah." the screen read 'Engine Overload' "that's not good. Ok. Don't panic, or maybe panic."  
>"Something you want to share with the rest of us?" Clara demanded.<p>

"The engines damaged." Star told her, "we're in big, big trouble and it needs fixing."

"So now would be a good time to use that big friendly button, right?"

"Yeah, sorry, I should had one built in." the Doctor called as he soniced one of the panels below the console.

"Where are we going?" Tricky asked.

"Detour." He knelt down, as the panel fell inwards, "the centre of the TARDIS."

~.~

The Doctor and Star led the way through the corridors, along with Clara and Tricky and Gregor, when a shadow passed them, "shush!" Clara hissed, "Something's in here."

"Those…things," Tricky whispered, "they've followed us."

"Doctor, Star, what are they? What aren't you telling me?"

"Trust me," Star turned to her, "something's you don't wanna know."

"They're on the move again!" Gregor cried as one moved behind them.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted, "move, move!"

They ran down the corridor when Star looked back only to see Clara had gotten lost. "Clara!?" she called out.

"This way!" the Doctor called, getting her trace on the scanner, "you two stay here!"

~.~

They ran off to see Clara standing talking to the Doctor, who didn't see her,

"…say something." She waved a hand in his face.

"Clara," Star ran up to her, "you mustn't touch!"

"There's a rupture in time somewhere onboard the ship." The Doctor explained, "A small tear in the fabric of the continuum. It must have happened when the TARDIS was pulled in by the salvage vessel."

Star took her hand and pulled her along, "the TARDIS is leaking."

"Leaking what?" she asked.

"The past. The three of us."

"Everything we've done," the Doctor added, "everything we've said. Recent history. It's not real. It's a memory."  
>They came to a halt when a creature in front of them, this one the shortest of them all.<p>

"What about this one?" Clara whispered.

"If you're giving me the option," the Doctor remarked, "I'd ay, 'this ones real.'"

Star kicked the creature back and they ran away from it, it chased them as it quickly recovered from the kick.

"She's right onto us." Star called.

Clara stopped "she?"

"Clara, don't ask us anymore," the Doctor yanked her hand and pulled her into a small niche to the side, the three of them pressed together as the creature paused.

"You're like one of those guys who can't go out with a girl unless his mother approves." Past Clara appeared before them, past Doctor and Star following her.

"It's important to us you getting along…" past Doctor told her.

The creature followed their past versions and the Doctor, Star and Clara stepped out when there was a groaning and the Time Lords looked up.

"What's that noise?" Clara breathed.

"We're right under the primary fuel cells." Star stated.

"So? So? So what?"

"So…so the fuel has spilled out." The Doctor sighed, "So the rods will be exposed. Means they'll cool…"

"And start to warp."

"And start to warp. Maybe even…"

"No. you don't say it. Don't you dare say it."

"Maybe even break apart." Star finished, and a large rod shoot down at an angle directly in front of them, making them jump back.

"Run?" Clara guessed.

"I'm liking how you're thinking." The Doctor agreed.

"Yeah."  
>They turn and ran down the corridor, ducking and dodging the rods as they shot out through the walls and found Gregor and Tricky, Tricky unfortunately had been impaled through his shoulder.<p>

"You made it though." Clara gasped.

"What's the matter with you?" Tricky demanded to his brother, "Why wont you cut me?"

"Tell him." the Doctor rounded on Gregor.

"Tell me what?"

"You cant, can you? You're a coward. You wont save him, but you're scared to tell him why."  
>"What's he going on about?"<p>

"Robots don't need blast suits. They don't need respirators. They don't get frightened of monsters in the dark."

"What's he talking about?" Tricky repeated.

The Doctor shined the sonic in the mans eyes, "two bionic eyes and a synthetic voice box. But you, my friend, are human. Flesh and blood."

Tricky stared at Gregor, hurt and lost.

"It was a joke." Gregor said quietly.

"What..?" Tricky breathed.

"It was just a stupid joke. We did it to relieve the boredom."

"Oh, it was so funny," Star spat at Gregor, "they lied to you. Changed your identity. Just to provide some in-flight-entertainment!"

"Im sorry," Gregor apologised, "you're human, Tricky."  
>"Cut the metal," the Doctor ordered, "cut the metal!" he clapped his hands together, "go!"<p>

Gregor picked up his laser and began to cut through the rod.

~.~

The Doctor and Star led the group down the hall with Tricky staggering behind, his arm bandaged. They stopped at a thick strolled door with a round window.

"Where are we?" Clara asked.

"Power source," the Doctor replied, peeking through the window, "right you lot stay here. Star a d I'll check if it's safe. We can only survive a minute or two in there."

Clara tapped him on the shoulder as he moved to enter, "um...what happens if we stay longer?"

"Our cells will liquefy and our skin will start to burn," Star stated bluntly.

"I always feel so good after I've spoken to either of you."

"Marvellous," the Doctor smiled, "keep this door shut," he opened the door and they stepped through.

"That will not be a problem," Clara remarked, shutting it behind them.

They blinked in the light before quickly running across the catwalk to the door at the far end. The Doctor opened the door with the sonic and they looked out before closing it and running back along the catwalk and out the door again to see Tricky charging at Gregor.

"Tricky, listen to me," the Doctor held him back, "ask yourself why he couldn't cut you up. He had just one tiny scarp of decency left in him. You just helped him find that, ok? Now you," he looked at Gregor, "don't ever forget this."

"We have to hurry," Star called, opening the door again, "Move!" she ushered them in and closed it once they were all in only to see them all staring at the Eye of Harmony, a giant star hanging in the darkness above them.

"The Eye of Harmony," the Doctor explained quickly, "exploding star in the act of becoming a black hole. Time Lord engineering, you rip the star from its orbit, suspend it in a permanent state of decay. This way," he motioned them in, "quickly."

The men followed the Doctor, Gregor helping his brother, as Clara stared at the Eye a little longer.

"Clara," Star called softly, taking her hand and following them...only for them to open the door and a creature with its hand on its face, another behind, one with hands on its hips, waiting for them.

They slammed it shut and ran back the way they came only for another to be there.

"There's no way out!" Gregor shouted, "We're trapped!"

Star ran with the Doctor to the other door when Clara rugged her back from the hand she was still holding. "You're going to tell me now! If we're going to die in here, tell me what they are!"

"We can't," Star shook her head.

"Tell me! What's the use in secrets now!"

"Secrets protect us!" the Doctor told her, "secrets make us safe!"

"We're not safe!" Clara argued.

"Sensors detects animal DNA," Tricky's scanner called, "human core element. Calculating data. Calculating data..."

"No, no," the Doctor tried to grab it, "turn it off!"

"Lancashire. Sass. Identifiable substance. Clara."

"That's me," Clara breathed. Staring at it. It was the same height as her, same build, but...ashy and burnt.

"I'm so sorry," Star whispered, but...it wasn't just Clara, it was all of them. Even her and the Doctor, everyone in the room.

Clara swallowed peering out the window, "it's me. I die in here."

"It isn't just the past leaking out through the time rift." the Doctor said, "It's the future. Listen," he grabbed her face, "we brought you here to keep you safe. But it happened again. You died again."

Clara blinked and looked between them, "what do you mean again?"

The Doctor rubbed a hand through his hair as Star readjusted her corset, both uncomfortable with the conversation. When they glanced at each other, one creature had a hand to its face while another had hands on her hips, as though adjusting her corset; see quickly moved her hands away as the Doctor ran to the brothers standing back to back at the door.

"Hang on!" the Doctor shouted, "as long as we interrupt the timeline this can't happen." he tried to push them apart, "don't touch each other otherwise the future will reassure itself." he pulled them to the centre of the catwalk as one of the creatures pushed through the door. The one with its hand fused to it head grabbed Gregor by the pack on his back, "Gregor! Gregor let go of the circuit!"

"Just let it go!" tricky tried.

"Drop it!" Star yelled, "Let go!"

Gregor slipped out of the pack and backed away to the others as Tricky swung at the creature and it fell over the rail. They ran to the door when the creature fused together appeared there, stopping them.

Tricky hit the creature with a crowbar and kicked it over the rail. It fell taking Tricky with it when Gregor grabbed him.

"Don't touch him or time will reassure itself," Star warned.

Gregor helped his brother onto the catwalk but it was too late, they fused together and turned into the creature and advanced in the trio who ran out of the other door.

"The engine room!" Star shouted, leading the way down the corridor and through a door…only to almost fall of a cliff ledge.

"We're outside." Clara stated.  
>"No, we're still in the TARDIS."<p>

"There's no way across."

"No." the Doctor admitted, "ok, you're right."

"So what do we do?" Clara asked them, "time for a plan. Do you have a plan?"

"Well, no. no plan, sorry."

"If you don't have a plan, we're dead!"

"Yes, we are. So just tell us."

"Tell you what?" she shook her head.

The Doctor glanced at Star who nodded, "well, there's no point now, we're about to die, so just tell us who you are."

"You know who I am,"

"No, we don't," the Doctor argued, "we see you every day but we don't understand you. Why do we keep running into you?"

"You invited me," Clara frowned, "you said…"

"Before that."

"We met you in the Dalek Asylum." Star told her, "there was a girl in a shipwreck and she died saving us. And she was you."

"She really wasn't." Clara shook her head.

"Victorian London." The Doctor added, "There was a governess who was a barmaid, and we fought the Great Intelligence together, she died and it was MY fault, and she was you."  
>"You're scaring me."<p>

"Who are you?" Star asked, "what are you?"

"Are you a trick?" the Doctor eyed her, suspicious because just because she acts sweet and scared she may be a danger to Star, "a trap?"  
>"I don't know what you're talking about." Clara whispered, backing away from them and almost falling off the ledge when the Doctor grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, "alright, alright."<p>

"You really don't, do you?" Star eyed her. She was suspicious of her, yes, but she also loved Clara and if she said she didn't know, maybe she didn't know.

"I think im more scared of you right now than anything else on that TARDIS." Clara breathed.

"You're just Clara, aren't you?" the Doctor laughed, as he pinched her cheek and both Time Lords hugging her.

"Ok. I don't know what the hell this is about but the hug is really nice."

"We're not dying here." Star decided, "This isn't real. It's a snarl." She threw a rock over the edge.

"What?"

"What does a wounded animal do?" the Doctor asked her, "it tried to scared everyone away. We're close to the engine. The TARDIS is snarling at us, trying to frighten us off."

"We need to jump." Star grinned.

"You're insane" Clara stated.

"Yes I am."

"We'll cross a portal to the engine." The Doctor clapped his hands.

"How can you be so sure?" Clara wondered.

"Well, I can't."

"Ok, well, that's watertight."

The Doctor wagged his finger at him, "hey now, Clara, I've piloted this ship for over 900 years. Trust me this on time, please."

"Just this once?" Star raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ok. Ok. As well as all the other times. Ready?" Star told his hand in one of his and Clara in the other, "Geronimo." They ran and leapt of the cliff…landing in a white room with bits of machinery suspended throughout the room.

"The heart of the TARDIS." Star murmured. "The engine, it's already exploded. Must have been the collision with the salvage ship."

"We're not dead." Clara stated.

"She wrapped her hands around the force," the Doctor explained, "froze it."

"So…so it's safe?"  
>"Temporary fix. Eventually, this whole place will erupt. There's no way I can save her now. She's just always been there for me, for us, taken care of me. And now it's my turn and I don't know what to do. It…it just…" he smiled as Star squeezed his hand.<p>

"We'll think of something." Star promised, "You and me."

This was the TARDIS, their TARDIS and even now she was still protecting them and they had no idea how to help her when they needed too. The TARDIS was their home, they needed to do something.

Clara took the Doctor's hand in support and he looked at her burn to see 'big friendly button' burned on her palm, "beautiful fragile human skin." He kissed her palm, "Like parchment. Thank you. The rift in time. All the memories leaking out. I need to find the moment we crashed. I need to find…the music." They ran down the hall.

And into the console room where there was a crack in the wall under the console and walked over to it, the Doctor scanning it with the sonic, "the time rift. Recent past. Possible future."

"What are you going to do?" Clara asked.

The Doctor pulled out the remote he took from the men and used the sonic to write on it, "rewrite today, I hope. I've thrown this through the rift, before. I need to make sure this time."

"You're going to take it yourself aren't you?" Star guessed.

"Yes, I am." He nodded.

"There will be screaming."

"I am aware."

"You're an idiot."

"Yes I am." He blinked realising what she had just said, "why am I?"

She smiled sadly at him, "I can handle screaming better than you." she held her hand out, "please."

He hesitated, knowing it would hurt and he didn't want her to get hurt in going but she was stronger to do it, "alright." He handed her the device.

"Is it going to hurt?" Clara frowned.

"Yup." She headed to the rift.

"Wait! All those things you said. How we've met before. How I dead."

"Clara, don't worry," the Doctor assured her, "you'll forget. Time mends us. It can mend anything."

"I don't want to forget." She admitted, "not all of it." she wanted to know why for a moment neither of them had trusted her, why they were so sure they'd met her twice before.

"If I rewrite today, you won't remember." Star remarked.

"You'll still have secrets."

"Better than way." The Doctor patted her cheek. "Be quick." He called to Star and she winked stepping through the crack, to see the past her and the Doctor and Clara stumbling around the console just after they were caught by the mango-grab.

"Magnetic hobble-field. We're flying right into it. Clara, stay by me!"  
>"Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this." Clara called.<p>

"A big friendly button," his past self nodded.

"Doctor!" She shouted to her past father as he stumbled around the railing, "Doctor! Im from the future. You're future. Haven't got long. Reset deil." She threw the deil in Clara's direction and disappeared back through the crack.

~.~

The Doctor stood polishing the centre column as Clara entered having changed and showered, "I feel exhausted." She remarked, "I feel…"

"As through we've had two days crammed into the space of one?" Star guessed as she sat on the steps.

"Why would you say that?"

"I don't know. I ramble. I say things that don't make much sense to anyone but me sometimes I don't even understand what im saying."

"And me." The Doctor agreed, "do you feel safe?" he asked Clara after a moment.

"Of course." She nodded.

"Give me a number out of 10. 10 being whoo-hoo, 1 being aarrrgh!"

"11!" Star cheered, "No wait," she blinked, "13!"

"You're being weird." Was the answer Clara gave.

"I need to know if you feel safe," the Doctor shrugged her off, "I need to know…you're not afraid."

"Of?"

"The future. Running away with a spaceman in a box. Anything could happen to you." they understood now, Clara was exactly that, just Clara.

"That's what im counting on," she smiled and nodded to the console, "push the button."  
>The Time Lords grinned and the Doctor tossed the cloth onto the console and Star pulled the lever allowing them to dematerialise.<p> 


	15. The crimson horror

Vastra sat in a large chair in her conservatory with Jenny standing next to her as they spoke to a man in the chair opposite her.

"I read of your brothers' death." Vastra remarked, "Another victim on the Crimson Horror, I believe?"

"So it is claimed," the man nodded, "he was a newspaper man. He and a young woman were working undercover. Tell me, Madame, do you know what an optogram is?"

"It is a silly superstition sir."

"It is the belief that the eye can retain an image of the last thing it sees." A voice called from the doorway.

"And you are?" the man eyed the young woman with ginger hair that was clipped in a French twist, with bright green eyes. He blinked at what she was wearing, long fingerless netted gloves, with knee high laced black boots and a green corset styled dress, most of her skin on show.

"Star." she answered, "I was in Sweetville with my father and our friend, helping Mr Edmund. Dad told me to get out as we were attacked."

Vastra looked at her sadly. The girl had come straight to them, told them what had happened how the Doctor had told her to teleport away and she came straight here and barged straight in needing help, trying to think of a plan to help them.

She'd avoided mentioning Clara and had just told them they'd gotten a new companion not wanting them to go into who or what Clara was as they recalled she had died and honestly she wasn't in the mood to explain who or what Clara was because they still didn't have a clue themselves.

"Yes, well, you're right," the man reached into his back pocket and handed a photograph to Jenny who passed it the Vastra.

"Good grief!" Vastra gasped, removing her veil.

"Oh, god!" the man stared at Vastra and fainted at the sight of the lizard woman.

~.~

They trio stood in the dark room, enlarging the mans photograph. Jenny clipped it on the line to dry and looked closer, "well, I'll be blowed! I think, Madame, that we'd better make plans to head north!"  
>Vastra and Star came round and looked at the photo to see in the eye of the dead man, was the Doctor! His skin red, in pain. But no Clara, she was somewhere else.<p>

"He's fine," Star swallowed, trying to assure the human and Silurian, though they both knew she was saying that for herself. It was the look in her eyes, full of worry for her father and new companion, despite the brave face everyone knew that Star was only brave when she knew that she wouldn't be in too much danger with the Doctor there to keep his eyes on her.

~.~

The group sat in the carriage the next day, Star on one side as Jenny and Vastra faced forwards as Strax drove.

"According to my research," Vastra began, "Sweetville's proprietor hold recruitment drives for her little community. She is only interested in the fittest and the most beautiful."

"Then why does she want dad?" Star tried to joke.

"You may rely on me, ma'ams." Strax called.

"I was, in face, speaking to Jenny." Vastra corrected.

"Jenny?" Strax scoffed, "if this weak and fleshy boy is to represent us, I strongly recommend the issuing of scissor grenades, limbo vapour and triple-blast brain slitters."

"What for?"

"Just generally. Remember we are going to the North."

"What's wrong with the North?" Star crossed her arms; lots of planets have a north.

~.~

Star and Jenny sat in the audience of the church hall in Sweetville as Mrs Gillyflower gave her speech on the 'Present Moral Decay and the Coming Apocalypse! Star, to avoid being recognised had borrowed one of Jenny's gown, a lovely deep purple simple corseted dress and had also made a quick perfection filter to change her hair brown with she adored, she loved being a brunette but never got the chance to enjoy it, being stuck on the Dalek Crucible, not that she didn't love being ginger, she just always wanted to be a brunette. Vastra had instructed her to stay with her but Star refused, wanting to go with Jenny to help find her father herself.

"Bradford, that Babylon for the Moderns, with its crystal light and its glitter," the woman raved on, as she stood on the podium, a young man and woman next to her, "all aswarm with the wretched ruins of humanity. Men and women crushed by the devils juggernaut! And moral turpitude can destroy the most delicate of lives. Believe me, I know. I know." She nodded to a woman standing next to her who pulled a cord and the screen opened to reveal another young woman sitting down and dressed in a light grey coat, "my own daughter. Blinded in a drunken ray by my late husband. Her once beautiful eyes, pale and white as mistletoe berries." The woman walked with a cane across the podium, giving the audience a clear view of her milky blue eyes and the scars around her eyes. Star tensed, knowing that that wasn't natural, last time when she was here first time with the Doctor and Clara she hadn't paid any attention to what was being said, "and what, my friends, is your story? Will you be found wanting when the End of Days is come, when judgement rain down upon us all? Or will you be reserved against the coming apocalypse? Do not despair! I offer a way out! There is a different path! Sweetville!" her daughter removed the drape on the easel to reveal an artistic rendering of an idyllic village, "Join us! Join us in this shining city on the hill! She began to sing, "Bring me my bow of burning gold. Bring me my arrows of desire…"

~.~

Jenny and Star stood in line waiting to join Sweetville.

"You wish to join, my dears?" Mrs Gillyflower smiled at them.

"If it's all the same with you, ma'am." Jenny smiled back to her.

"We hope it will be a nice way to forget the pain from the past." Star added.

"This is my niece," Jenny introduced, "my brother-in-law and his wife passed away a few months ago and I've been caring for the girl ever since." It was their plan as an excuse to why they wanted to come up from London to live in Sweetville.  
>"Im sorry for you loss," Mrs Gillyflower said solemnly, before smiling again, "you'll do very nicely." She handed Jenny the pen and she sighed them up.<p>

~.~

Star huffed as they waiting in line for entry into Sweetville. Jenny smirked as how she was just like the Doctor with her impatience and her love for running and getting into danger.

"I'm dead nervous, aren't you?" a young ginger woman came to speak to them, "they have to be sure, you see. Only the best for Sweetville! I hope me teeth don't let me down," she showed them her rather horrible teeth, "im Abigail."

"Pleased to meet you." Jenny murmured.

"You're not local, are you?"

"From London." Star told her, bluntly.

"Different here, I bet."

"Oh, yeah!" Jenny nodded, "like a bleeding' horse market. Do you know anyone who's come to live here? In Sweetville, I mean."

"I…I had a pal who came here 3 months back. She wrote to tell me how perfect it all were. Funny though, I've not heard a peep from her since."

"Next, please!" a man called.

"Hang on. We're moving." Abigail stepped forwards while Star tugged Jenny to the side having spotted a door marked 'no entry.'

"What are you doin'?" Abigail watched them.

"Do us a favour." Jenny turned to her, unable to open the door with people watching, "Cause a distraction."  
>"What?"<p>

"Swoon. Have a funny turn. Fit of the vapours."  
>"Are you crackers?"<p>

"Do you like this?" Star turned to show her the silver clip she had in her hair, what she was using as a perfection filter.

"Yes."

"You can have it if you cause a distraction." She took the clip out of her hair as her hair, to Abigail and Jenny and everyone, turned back to her usual ginger as it fell down her shoulders.

"Done." Abigail took the clip, not noticing her hair change and began breathing deeply, wheezing as the people around her helped her Star put her hand on the lock, concentrating and it unlocked and they slipped through into a factory. Well more an empty room with three large bell shaped speakers making a loud noise, making Jenny cover her ears until the stepped back them. Star pulled her back as two men walked across the floor carrying large glass flasks with some sort of red liquid inside.

Once the men had gone they stepped out from behind the speakers and entered the lift.

~.~

Star and Jenny stepped out of the lift and into a desert hall. At one end they spotted a door with a round window through, with a red glow. They walked down to it and peered through.

Star gasped at the sight as there were rows of people being dropped into the red liquid that the men had carried. "Come on, we need to find dad." She stormed off, "and fast!" Gillyflower had done that to dad, but with his Time Lord biology he would have survived, they needed to find him quickly and then find Clara, if they were lucky she may have survived as well. If neither of them had survived Gillyflower had best run and run far, because nothing would stop her killing her in her anger.

They climbed a spiral staircase when they heard a banging form behind a door; Star ran over to it and tried the handle to find it locked.

"Star, be careful." Jenny hissed, pulling her back as she lifted up the panel and a hand reached on, the skin red. Jenny quickly moved back to avoid being touched.

Star opened the panel again and the hand, once again reached out, she grabbed it and squeezed it. "Get back." She ordered, letting go of the hand that went back into the panel.

"Star…?" Jenny began seeing her eyes changed to the red, which in honestly, she really did not like.

"Just stand back, right now I am furious!" she flung her hands out and blasted the door of its hinges and ran into the room to see the Doctor sitting on the floor, his arms outstretched, reaching for her, wearing white rags.

"Doctor?" Jenny gasped, standing there wide eyed. "What happened to you?"

The Doctor could only grunt and looked over to his clothes in a small pile.

"Get his clothes," Star ordered, "we're getting out of here." She began to pick the locks.

~.~

They walked down the halls, with the Doctor leaning on Star as he was unable to walk, Jenny following with his clothes. Star led them down the corridor where they saw the red room where the hall as some sort of booths along the side, the Doctor grunted and pointed at them so Star led him into it, "sonic," she muttered, searching in his jacket pocket and pulling it out and used it on the controls as they helped Doctor enter and handed him in clothes, Jenny closed the door and nudged Star into a small gap as two men walked past.

Moments later the Doctor jumped out, his skin de-red and dressed in his usual attire, "Ah! Missed me?" he asked, as Star lunged at him.

"Oh yes!" Star grinned.

"Doctor!" Jenny gasped.

"Jenny!" he grinned, "just when you think your favourite lock-picking Victorian chambermaid will never turn up!"  
>"Hey!" Star pouted, "I did all the work, she just came to keep an eye on me."<p>

"Well, then. Thank you, Jenny." He dipped her and kissed her forehead, proceeding her slapping his cheek. "you've no idea how good that feels!"

"We need to stop Gillyflower and help Clara."

"Clara?" Jenny frowned, "wait!"

"Got to find Clara." The Doctor took Stars hand and they headed off. The whole time he was frozen he knew Star would be coming to help, he spent the whole time, waiting for her, never losing faith that she would come, knowing she would always come.

"What happened to you?" Jenny asked as she caught up with them, "how did you get like that?"

"Long story." He waved her off.

_The TARDIS materialised in a street in a small country village and the Doctor stepped out with Star, who changed for the time period wearing a green corset dress, black boots and black laced fingerless gloves, a Victorian coat over her shoulders. The Doctor had a bowler hat on along with his typical attire. Clara stepped out after them wearing a high collar black dress with red accents, her brown hair curled and a black bonnet on._

"_Ok." The Doctor sighed, "not London 1893."  
>"Same year." Star smirked, "but Yorkshire. Close enough." She shrugged making him beam. <em>

"_You're making a habit of this." Clara remarked, "getting us lost."_

"_We're not lost." Star countered, "we know exactly were we are."_

"_It's much better than it used to be." The Doctor defended, "I once spent a hell of a long time trying to get a gobby Australian to Heathrow Airport."_

"_What for?" Clara frowned._

"_Search me. Anyway…" he was cut off by a woman screaming in the distance, "Brave heart, Clara!" he took Stars hand and they ran, following the scream to the canal where a group of people gathered around._

_A body floated down in the cannel, red skinned and dressed in rags._

"_It's another one, don't you see?" a man rambled as he was restrained by a policeman, "another victim! Why won't any one of you listen?"_

"_We'll listen." The Doctor remarked._

_The man, Edmund Thursday, walked with them to the gates of Sweetville and they looked through into the courtyard. _

"_Mrs Winifred Gillyflower." He sighed, "An astonishing woman. A prize-winning chemist and mechanical engineer. So why…"_

"_Why has she decided to open up a match factory in her old home town?" the Doctor wondered._

"_And no one who ever goes to live there ever seems to come out."_

"_Sounds like Willy Wonka's factory." Star laughed, "Ooh, can we go one day?"_

"_One day." The Doctor promised._

"_We kidnapped Roald Dahl once," Star told Clara seeing her expression who could only shake her head, "but it was an accident!"_

_The small group looked over the body in the coroners' office._

"_Same as the rest," Edmund told them, "all dead from causes unknown and their flesh…glowing."_

"_Like something manky in a coal cellar." The coroner added, "they keep turning up in't canal. The Crimson Horror!"_

"_Good name." Star smirked._

"_That's good isn't it?" the Doctor grinned at her, "the Crimson Horror! I wonder what it is," he used a magnifying glass to examine the eye, "do you know the old Romany superstition, Clara? That the eye of a dead person retains an image of the last thing it sees?"_

_Clara looked for herself and gasped as Star took a peek to see Mrs Gillyflower reflected in the mans eye._

"_Nonsense, of course." The Doctor muttered, "unless the chemical composition of the body has been massively corrupted." The Doctor rubbed the skin with his white gloves._

_The Doctor set up a small alb in the coroners' office, analyzing the red liquid. "Wow. This is nasty." He grimaced, "an organic poison. A sort of venom"_

"_You think it's connected to Sweetville?" Star looked at Edmund._

"_I do." He nodded._

"_Well, then," the Doctor grinned. "We need a plan!" _

_The front door approach._

_The best plan._

"_Doctor and Mrs Smith," Gillyflower grinned at the Doctor and Clara as they walked arm in arm, "and your precious girl," she smiled sweetly at Star. It was the best plan they had without getting too many questions. The Doctor and Clara were married and Star was their daughter and they wanted a nice little family home. The Doctor had suggested that Clara was Stars nanny but it would be too suspicious with Star looked like a teenager, who obviously no longer needed a nanny, they were close to saying Clara was Stars cousin but they would still get a few question on Clara looking a similar age to the Doctor, it was just easiest to say there were married.. _

"_Oh, grand," the Doctor laughed, a Northern accent in his words, "smashing. Eh, the missus and I couldn't be more cuffed, couldn't we love?" he wrapped an arm around Clara shoulders._

"_Me neither," Star added in her own Northern accent._

_The Doctor and Clara linked their arms as they followed Gillyflower through the courtyard, Star holding the Doctors hand as they walked._

"_Sweetville will provide you with everything you need." Gillyflower explained, "You won't have to worry about a thing...ever again."_

"_The name," Clara began with her own Northern accent, with was rather good actually, "Sweetville."_

"_Yes?"_

"_Why not name it after yourself? After all, it's your creation."_

"_Gillyflowertown?" Star suggested, "Gillyflowerland"_

"_You could have roller-coasters!" the Doctor agreed._

_Gillyflower stopped, "it is named in tribute to my partner."_

"_Your late partner?" _

"_No. my…silent partner. Mr Sweet likes to keep himself to himself. Shall we move on?" she gestured to a door of a house._

"_Who lives here?"_

"_Oh, names don't matter here. All you need to know is that we only recruit the brightest and the best." She patted Clara's cheek._

_They entered to see a man and a woman sitting motionless in a giant bell jar hooked up to bellows, set up for afternoon tea._

"_Run!" Star shouted, kicked the men at the door down allowing them to run past and into the courtyard, only for men and woman to surround them and led them down an ally, to a dead end._

"_Star!" the Doctor turned to her, "teleport out. Get out of here!"_

"_And leave you!" she raised her eyebrows, "no way!"_

"_Just go! Keep yourself safe! Now!"_

_With a moments hesitation, she teleported herself away and to London, going to get help from Vastra, Jenny and Strax, if she went back alone, she wouldn't think twice about murdering Gillyflower on the spot._

"Poor Edmund must have come looking for us," the Doctor remarked, "then fallen into a vat of pure venom."

"Or pushed," Star countered, "poor man didn't stand a chance."

"What is that stuff, though?" Jenny asked.

"Deadly poison," the Doctor stated and scanned around with the sonic, "and Mrs Gillyflower's dripping her pilgrims in a dilute form to protect them. Preserve them. Process didn't work on me. Maybe because im not human. I ended up on the reject pile."

"Preserve them against what?"

"The coming apocalypse." Star mocked.

"'When the End of Days is come and judgement rains down upon us all…'" Jenny recalled.

"What?" the Doctor looked at her.

"Something Gillyflower said," Star told him, "one of her sermons."

"Madam will come looking for me." Jenny reminded them, "we'd best get on."

"Yes!" the Doctor agreed, "got to find Clara."

"But…Clara's dead isn't she?"

He looked at Star, "you didn't tell them about Clara."

She grinned sheepishly and turned to Jenny, "it's complicated."

They walked off again.

"Are we talking about the same person?" Jenny inquired, "about that Clara?"

"Couldn't see much from where I was," he said, "but I think she survived the process. She must be here somewhere," he and Star ran into the different houses looking for her.

"But Clara died. The Ice Lady…"

"Found her." Star called, peeking out of one of the houses, they ran in to see Clara in a bell jar, sitting primly with a man standing beside her.

Star placed her hand on the glass, a faint blue glow appearing, making the glass shatter.

~.~

The Doctor peered through the slats of the booth they put Clara in.

"Can she be revived, like you were?" Jenny asked.

"We hope so." Star murmured, pacing down the hall when she spotted some men, "we've got company." she called.

"Oh, great." He mumbled, "great. Attack of the supermodels."

"Allow me." Star grinned.

"Nah," Jenny cheered, "this ones on me."

"Oh," Star pouted, she was looking forwards to kicking their butts.

Jenny merely laughed as she removed her bonnet and dress to reveal a Victorian cat suit underneath. The Doctor turning to the booth, watching intently, avoiding watching Jenny as Star smirked, watching her amused as she flipped a man on his back, jabbing the second in the face with her elbow and hitting the third in the stomach.

"Time for a new plan." The Doctor muttered, the man advancing again.

"Now it's my turn." Star smirked, her hands turning to fists, a blue glow around them.

"How are you doing that?" the Doctor frowned, he'd never seen her do that before.

"No idea," she admitted, she honestly didn't, never did really, she always just knew she could d things, with her gifts. But she was ready to attack when a blast went past her. She looked behind her to see Strax running down the corridor, firing his gun and the men ran away, Vastra following Strax.

"Quickly!" Vastra called, "Lets go!"  
>"No!" the Doctor looked back into the booth. Clara wasn't ready yet.<p>

"No, ma'am!" Jenny agreed, "We're not escaping! We've got to help with Clara!"

Vastra looked at the Doctor as if to say 'what have you done now.'

The Doctor looked at her embarrassed, "Long story." He turned back to watching the booth.

"What now Madame?" Strax walked over to them, "we could lay mimetic cluster mines."

"Strax..." Vastra began.

"Or dig trenches and fill them with acid."

"Strax!" Vastra cut him off, "you're overexcited. Have you been eating Miss Jenny's sherbet fancies again?"

There was pause before he answered, "no."

"Go outside and wait for me until I call for you."

"But, Madame..."

"Go!"

"Im going to go and play with my grenades." Strax sulked and he walked off.

The Doctor scanned the booth, "ok, I think she's about done. I know who you think she is, but she isn't. She can't be."

"I was right then," Vastra remarked, "you and Clara have unfinished business."

The Doctor opened the Doctor and Clara fell forwards.

"Hello stranger." the Doctor laughed.

"Doctor?" she tapped his noise.

"Uh-huh."

She spotted Vastra and Jenny, "hi." and whispered to the Time Lords, "What's going on?"

"Haven't you heard?" the Doctor adapted his Northern accent again; "there's trouble at the mill."

"And she's a lizard." Star added, nodding to Vastra.

"My people once ruled this world," Vastra told them as they headed to the lift, "as well you know. But we did not rule it alone. Just as humanity fights a daily battle against nature, so did we. And our greatest plague, the most virulent enemy was the repulsive red leech."

"Ooh!" the Doctor made to push the lifts button when Star got their first, sticking her tongue out at him, "the repulsive red leech! On balance, I think I prefer the Crimson Horror. What was it exactly?"

"A tiny parasite. It infected our drinking water. And once in our systems, it secreted a fatal poison."

"If it's been hanging around, lurking in the shadows, maybe it evolved," Star suggested, "Or had help."

"Doctor, I've been thinking, the chimney..." Clara trailed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." the Doctor nodded, not really listening to her, "way past that now! Yucky red parasite from the time of the dinosaurs pitches up in Victorian Yorkshire. Didn't see that one coming."

"Yeah, but the chimney..."

"But what's the connection to Mrs Gillyflower? 'Judgement will rain down in all...'" he snapped his fingers, "an empty mill."

"Star," Clara sighed.

"Yeah," she blinked.

"A chimney that doesn't blow smoke."

"Clever clogs," the Doctor huffed.

"Missed me?"

"Oh yeah." Star grinned, hugging her as the lifted arrived and they stepped in.

~.~

They quickly realised, as they saw the rocket ship in the factory with the workers filling it with the poison, that Gillyflower was going to poison the air. They'd gone to find Gillyflower and stop her when they heard someone crying, to see Ada, Gillyflowers daughter, sitting on an empty crate as she wept.

"Who's that?" she stiffened, hearing them, "who is there?"

The Doctor knelt in front of her and took her arm, lifting it to her face.

"You," she breathed, "it's you! My monster, you've come back. But you're..."

"Warm," he smiled, "and alive. Thanks to you, Ada. You saved me."

Star also knelt in front of her, "you saved my dad from your mothers human rubbish tip, thank you."

"Now, what's wrong?"

"She does not want me!" Ada wept, "I am not to be chosen. Perhaps it was my own sun, the blackness in my heart, that my father saw in me."

"Ada, no," the Doctor sighed sadly, "that's nonsense. Stupid, backward nonsense, and you know it!" he took her head in his hands, "you know it." he rubbed a thumb over the scars by her eyes.

"What is it?" Clara frowned at her scars.

"Who is that?" Ada looked in her direction.

"Im…a friend, a friend of theirs." She knelt down besides Star.

"Then you are fortunate, indeed. It isn't good to be alone."

"Ada, can you tell us something. Who's Mr Sweet?" Star asked her.

"Oh…" she looked away.

"Please," the Doctor pleaded, "tell us."

"I cannot! Even now, I cannot! I cannot betray mama."

"Well, come with us, then, there's something you need to know."

~.~

They strolled into the parlour Gillyflower was in, "you do seem to keep turning up like a bad penny, young man." She chuckled, walking over to them.

"Force of habit." The Doctor shrugged.

"Can I offer you something? Tea? Seed cake? A glass of Amontillado?"  
>"No thanks. We've had a skinful already, as you might say."<p>

"Ha! Very funny."  
>"Im the Doctor, this is my daughter Star, that Clara," he pointed at them, "you're nuts and we're going to stop you."<p>

"I'm afraid Mr Sweet and I cannot allow that."

"Why are you and Mr Sweet petrifying your workforce with diluted prehistory leech venom?" Star wondered.

"So when do we get to meet him," Clara asked, "this silent partner of yours? Why's he so shy?"

"Mr Sweet is always with us." Gillyflower smiled.

"You seem to have a very close relationship, you and your pal." The Doctor said.

"Oh, yes, Doctor. Exceeding close. Symbiotic, you might say." She unfastened the top of her gown to reveal a large red leech attached to her. It looked up at the light change and looked at them, showing its mouth lined with sharp teeth before reattaching itself to Gillyflower who sat down and fed it.

"What is it?" Clara grimaced.

"A survivor!" Gillyflower answered, grinning, "he had grown fat on the filth humanity has pumped into the rivers. That's where I found him."

"Very enterprising." The Doctor murmured, even he looked disgusted.

"His needs are simple. And in return, he gives me his nectar."

"His poison," Star corrected, "in the wrong hands, that venom could wipe out all life on the planet!"

Gillyflower merely grinned, holding her hands up, "do you know what these are?"  
>"The wrong hands?" she guessed.<p>

She giggled and pulled a lever on the mechanism and through the window they saw the lights lit up on the chimney.

"Planning a little fireworks party, are we?" the Doctor looked at her.

"You've forced me to advance the Great Work somewhat, Doctor. But my colossal scheme remains as it was. My rocket will explode high in the atmosphere, raining down Mr Sweet's beneficence onto all humanity."

"And wiping us all out!" Clara cried, "you can't!" she tried to step towards the woman but Star held her back.

"My new Adam and Eves will sleep for but a few months before stepping out into a golden dawn." The woman clasped her hands together, "is it not beautiful?"

"Tell us about Ada." Star ordered.

"What?"

"Your daughter?"

"You do remember your daughter?" the Doctor frowned, unsure if she was confused who Ada was or the sudden change in topic, "tell us about your daughter."

"How can you speak of such trivia when my hour is at hand?" Gillyflower scoffed, "the child is of no consequence."

"Is that why you experimented on her?" he asked, disgusted that someone would do that to their own daughter.

"Experiments?" Clara gaped.

"The signs are all there." Star nodded, "the pattern of scarring. You used her as a guinea pig, didn't you?"

"God!"

"Sometime, sacrifices must be made." Gillyflower shrugged.

"Sacrifices?" the Doctor scoffed.

"It was necessary! I had to find out how much of the venom would produce an anti-toxin. To immunise myself! Don't you see? It was necessary!"

"Mama?" Ada appeared at the door, "is it…is it true?"

"Ada…"

"It is." She gasped, "It's true. True."

"Ada, listen to me." She began walked towards her daughter.

"You hag!" Ada stormed towards her mother, "you perfidious hag! You virago! You harpy! All these years, I have helped you, served you. Look out for you. Does it count for nothing? Nothing at all?" she hit her mother with her cane.

"Stop, stop."

Ada stumbled back as Gillyflower leaned against a heavy steel door.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic…as Clara picked up a chair, "hang on, I've got the sonic screwdriver!"

"Yeah? I've got a chair!" she countered and she threw the chair at the controls, destroying them, causing sparks to fly.

"No!" Gillyflower yelled.

"Looks like your rocketing isn't going anywhere, Mrs G." Star smirked.

"Come to me, Ada." Gillyflower called, "my child," she pulled the sobbing woman into a hug, "you have always been so very…"she pulled out a gun and aimed it at her head, "useful."  
>"No, Mrs Gillyflower!" the Doctor shouted.<p>

"Please, mama." Ada whimpered, "no more. No more."

"And now," Gillyflower laughed, "if you'll please forgive us, we must be going. It is long past Ada's bedtime!" she pushed Ada through the door she leaned on. Clara rushed after but the door close before she got there.

"Clara," Star pulled her back, "if we follow straight after her, she'll shoot Ada on the spot."

"She wouldn't!" Clara gasped.

"She would!" the Doctor replied, solemn before grabbing a chair, "chairs are useful!" he grinned at Clara and charged at the window with the chair, smashing the glass.

~.~

They ran through the night, along the edge the courtyard, and to the factory and ran up the stairs in the chimney, following Gillyflower and Ada and caught up with them in front of a power box.

"Just let her go, Mrs Gillyflower." The Doctor shouted, "let Ada go!"

"Secondary firing mechanism, Doctor!" Gillyflower smirked, "Mr Sweet and I are too smart for you, after all."

"Just let Ada go!" Star called.

"Just let your daughter go!" the Doctor tried again.

Ada broke out of her mothers grip and fell down the stairs.

"Shoot if you wish, mama." Ada wept, hearing the gun click as Gillyflower aimed at her, "it is of no matter, for you killed me a long time ago!"

The Doctor tried to move towards Ada, to help her, but Gillyflower fired at him, forcing him back before she opened the power box.

"I'll labour night and day to be a pilgrim!" she sung, pulling a lever.

While she was distracted the Doctor helped Ada stand up.

"Now, Mr Sweet, now the whole world will taste your lethal kiss!" Gillyflower chuckled, looking up to the sky.

"I don't think so." Star countered, snapping her fingers and on the landing above them, Vastra and Jenny pushed their veils back, holding the flask of venom.

"Very well, then." Gillyflower remarked, "If I can't take the world with me, you will have to do. Die, you freaks! Die! Die!" she aimed at Jenny and Vastra.

"Put down your weapon, human female!" Star ordered form the opening of the chimney, aiming down at Gillyflower who fired a him and he fired back at her, making her lose her balance and fall to the floor with a thud.

"Ouch." Star winced, "gotta hurt."

The Doctor, Star, Clara, Jenny and Vastra ran down to her as Mr Sweet released his old on Gillyflower, crawling away.

"No…no!" Gillyflower reached for him, "Mr Sweet? Where are you going? You can't leave me, Mr Sweet."

"What's it doing?" Clara asked quietly.

"It knows she's dying," the Doctor answered, "she's no longer any use to it."

"Mr Sweet!" Gillyflower cried, until she heard the faint tapping of a came, "Ada? Ada. Are you there?"

"I'm here, mama." She knelt besides her mother.

"Forgive me, my child. Forgive me."

"Never."

"That's…my…girl." She wheezed in her last breath as above them in the sky the rocket exploded.

"What will you do with that thing?" Jenny eyed the parasite.

"Take it back to the Jurassic era." Star told her, "out of harms way…" she was cut off, however, when Ada beated Mr Sweet with her cane, "…or not."

~.~

The trio made their way to the TARDIS, Vastra, Jenny and Strax behind them to say goodbye.

"Right, London." The Doctor smiled, unlocking the door, "we were heading for London, weren't we?"

"Was there any particular reason?" Clara wondered.

"No." he answered quickly, "no. just though you might…like it."

"Yeah. Maybe had enough of Victorian values for a bit."

"You're the boss." Star saluted her.

"Am I?" she raised her eyebrows.

"No. now, go inside." Clara rolled her eyes and headed inside as the Time Lords walked to Ada.

"Now, Ada," the Doctor said to her, "I'd love to stay and clear up the mess, but…"

"I know, dear monster," she cut him off, "you have things to do."

"And what about you?" Star asked her.

"Oh, there are many things a bright young lady can do to occupy her time. It's time I stepped out of the darkness and into the light."  
>"Good luck, Ada." The Doctor smiled at her, "you know, I think you'll be just…" he kissed her cheek, "splendid." They walked over to Vastra, Jenny and Strax "thanks a million, you three, as ever. Have some Pontefract cakes on us."<p>

"I love Pontefract cakes!" Star grinned.

"You love all food." The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Just gives us an excuse to cook together."

He shook his head at her, "see you around, eh?" they turned back to the TARDIS.

"But, that girl, Clara." Jenny ran after them, "you haven't explained."

"No, we haven't." Star agreed.

"Ah, look at the muck in here!" the Doctor ran a finger along the TARDIS; "right!" they entered and dematerialised.

Star laughing as on the monitor she saw Mr Thursday faint seeing them dematerialise.


	16. A nightmare in silver

"The kids?" the Doctor blinked, staring at Clara as they stood in the console room, Angie and Artie standing just behind Clara as Star leaned on the console amused.

"I sort of have to." She sighed, leaning and whispering to him, "They know…"

"Know what?" he mimicked her, confused.

"How do they know?" Star tilted her head, whispering as well, despite knowing there was no point by the look on Angie and Artie's faces they could hear them.

"They found pictures," Clara told them, "of us. In different time periods."

"Either that or Clara has clones." Angie interrupted, Star being right, they could hear them.

"Well…" Star began. There was a chance it was just spatial genetic multiplicity and they used the same name for the different generations of the family, all had the same surname just a different first and middle. But also it could be clones.

~.~

They materialised on what appeared to be a moon exhibition, the Earth hanging in the background, even an American flag planet in the ground. Star opened the door and poked her head out, grinning as the Doctor did the same, followed by Clara before stepping out, Angie and Artie following.

"Well, here we are." The Doctor held his arms out wide, "Hedgewick's world, the biggest and the best amusement park there will ever be and we've got a golden ticket!" he jumped onto a rock, "eh, eh? Fun!"

"Fun?" Clara raised an eyebrow.

"Your stupid box can't even get us to the right place." Angie grumbled, "This is, like, a moon base or something."

"It's not the moon." Star shook her head, jumping on the ground, testing the gravity.

"Actually," Artie cut in, "I think it does look like the moon. Only dirtier."

"It's not the moon!"

"It's a Spacey Zoomer ride, or it was." The Doctor murmured.

A door opened in one of the larger rocks and a man peered out, "psst! Scuse I. I don't suppose you happen to be my lift off planet? Dave's Discount Interstellar Removals?"

"'Fraid not." Clara shook her head.

"They were meant to be here 6 months ago. That's Dave for you, see, unreliable."

"Stay were you are!" a woman called.

"Oops." The man ducked back inside his rock as a group of soldiers entered the area, led by a female officer with red lipstick on.

"Throw down your weapons and identify yourselves." She ordered.

Clara moved in front of the children, including Star as she stood next to them.

"No. no weapons!" the Doctor held his hands up, the ticket still in his hand, "Golden ticket! Spacey Zoomer?" he bounced on the spot, "free ice cream?"

"Who are you? This planet if closed, by Imperial order."  
>"How's this?" he held out the psychic paper.<p>

"Oh." she blinked, looking at it, "welcome, Proconsul. I wish they'd told us you were coming. Any news of the Emperor?"  
>"None." Star answered, "Well, no more than you."<p>

"We pray for his return. If there is anything you need, my platoon is at your service."  
>"Right," the Doctor nodded, "righty-oh. Well, carry on, captain." He saluted her and she returned it.<p>

"Platoon, lets move out. On the double. 2, 3, 4! 2, 3, 4! 2, 3, 4!" the soldiers jogged away, not really following the order correctly.

And the men reappeared, "have they gone?"  
>"Yes." The Doctor answered.<p>

"Uniforms give me the heebie-jeebies." He shuddered, "come on. They can't stop me being here, but they don't like it." they followed him through the door and to the whole park, rides as far as the eye could see.

"Ha, ha!" the Doctor grinned, "you see? I told you it was amazing. Well, it used to be."

"It closed down," the man explained, "wish I'd known that before I landed here. But let me show you my collection. Come along, follow me, this way. This way in, come on. Welcome to my show…" he led them into a dark and slightly eerie room that was lined with wax replicas of different aliens. In the centre were two worn sofas. "Webley's World of Wonders," he cheered, "Miracles, marvels and more awaits you. I am impresario Webley." The children looked around in wonder, "you see before you waxwork representations of the famous…and the infamous. Anybody here play chess?"

The Doctor raised his hand, pulling Star's up aswell as she laughed.

"Perhaps you, young man?" he looked at Artie instead.

"Actually, im in my school chess club." The boy nodded, which made the Doctor sigh and lower is hand.

"Ah, follow me."

"We can play later." Star promised.

"Good," he smiled at her.

"Now," Webley called from the back room, and they quickly followed him, "let me demonstrate to you all the wonder of the age, the miracle of modernity. We defeated them all, a thousand years ago. But now he's back, to destroy you. behold! The enemy!" he pulled the drape off the figure behind the chess board.

"Cyberman!" the Doctor shouted, "get down!" he pushed them all down as Star ducked behind him as the Cyberman raised his head…and that was it.

"No need to panic, my young friends." Webley laughed as they slowly stood back up, "We all know there are no more living Cybermen. What you are seeing is a miracle, the 699th wonder of the universe. As displayed before the imperial court and only here to destroy you, at chess! Careful now. An empty shell. And yet it moves. How?"

"Magic." Angie remarked sarcastically.

"That might well be, young lady." Webley nodded, not picking up on the sarcasm. "A single penny wins you five imperial shillings if you can beat this empty shell at chess."

"I haven't got a penny." Artie frowned, "but I've got a sandwich." He held one up.  
>"All right, take a seat." Webley took Arties sandwich, gesturing to the chair, "it is free of all devices, and yet it has never been beaten. Would you like to make the first move, young man?"<p>

Artie moved a pawn and the Cyberman jerkily made its move and Artie made his second move.

"Oh, no, Artie." The Doctor began, "no, don't do that."

"It's a fool's mate." Star winced, watching as the Cyberman check mated Artie.

"If you can tell me how it works," Webley said, eating the sandwich, "I'll give you a silver penny."

"I think…you do it with mirrors." Angie guessed.

"That's probably right," Star nodded, "because either someone's breathing on my leg, or something else is" she crouched down and opened a panel under the table to reveal a small man cramped inside. "Hello." She grinned.

"Hello." He waved, "im the brains."  
>"Need a hand?" she held out a hand for the man to take and helped him out of the small space.<p>

"Thanks," he smiled at her, "they call me Porridge, ah, it's good to be out of that box."

"For you, miss." Webley reached behind Angie's ear, "an imperial penny." He gave her the coin. The Doctor straightened as he saw a bug crawling on the wall.

"I have not one but three Cybermen in my collection," Webley was saying as they walked back into the main room, him pulling off the staves of the other Cybers, he and Star examining them, not trusting them to just be amour without prove themselves.

"Is that the king?" Angie asked, looking at the tall wax statue of a man in regal clothing.

"Emperor," Porridge corrected quickly, too fast the girl not to notice, "Ludens Nimrod Kendrick, etc, etc, the 41st defender of humanity, imperator of know space."

"He looks a bit full of himself," Clara remarked.

"Don't say things like that about the imperial family, you can end up on the run for the rest of your life."

"I'd like to see them try," Star smirked.

"Go on," Porridge turned to Wesley, "If the kids want to ride the Spacey Zoomer, then I can operate the gravity console." he smiled and they all followed him, save Angie who compared her penny to the wax statue.

"Angie," Star came back and tugged her along, "don't wanna miss out in this."

Star, Angie as Artie floating in the air, grinning widely as Clara took pictures, "Smile!" she laughed, "say, 'Spacey Zoomer'"

"We're flying!" Artie grinned.

"Having a good time?" the Doctor called.

Porridge turned off the gravity control and the three of them gently fell back to the ground.

"I think that was the most fun I've had in my whole life." Artie said, slightly breathless.

"It was...ok." Angie agreed, not wanting to admit she enjoyed it.

"It was brilliant!" Star grinned.

"Clara?" Artie turned to her as the Doctor scanned the area, "I think outer spec is actually very interesting."

"Right," Clara headed back to the TARDIS "wonderful day out, but it's time to get the kids home."

"Yeah, uh, no." he murmured, "not actually ready to leave."

"Why?" Star tilted her head, skipping over to him. "What you found?"

"Insects. Funny insects. I should add them to my funny insects' collections."

"You collect funny insects?" Clara raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I'm starting to. Right now."

~.~

"How long do we have to stay here?" Angie complained as she and Artie settled down in the sofas for the night, Clara just finishing tucking them in.

"Not long," the Doctor assured them, "have a nap. We'll wake you when we're ready to leave." he turned the lights off as he left the room.

"Comfy?" Porridge asked them.

"Sleep well." Clara whispered she and Porridge leaving the room.

"Night night." Star murmured as the Doctor jumped back in the room, the sonic to his face.

"Don't wander off!" he chuckled as the kids jumped, "I'm just saying 'don't wander off' I MEAN it. Otherwise you'll wonder off, and the next thing you know, somebody's going to have to start rescuing somebody."

"From what?" Angie frowned.

"Nobody needs rescuing," Star rolled her eyes as the Doctor gave away their concern with the Cybermen, "sweet dreams."

They left the room leaving them to settle on the sofas.

~.~

The small group stood in the warehouse, Clara and Porridge off to the side having their own conversation as the Doctor scanned around for anything suspicious, while Star was merely wondering around, slightly bored at having nothing to do.

"Clara," the Doctor called suddenly, "did you tell Angie she could go to the barracks?"

"You KNOW I didn't," Clara looked at him, "she's hasn't..."

"Apparently she has." Star remarked.

"Come on."

~.~

They found the barracks, striding through the halls of the main base, "Angie!" Clara shouted, as they rushed in, "Angie!"

"She has to turn up and spoil everything!" Angie cried, "I wasn't doing anything! Why can't you just leave me alone!"

Before Clara could answer there was a crash and a Cyberman appeared.

"Cyberman!" the captain shouted.

The Doctor scanned it with the sonic as the soldiers scrambled to get their weapons.

"Angie!" Star gasped, rushing over to the girl.

"Attack formation!" the captain ordered.

The Cyberman moved forwards in a blur, the Doctor pulled Clara to the side, as the soldiers fired at the Cyberman, barely hitting it.

"Upgrade in progress!" it stated, it chest glowing brightly.

"Angie!" Clara cried, wanting to make sure she was safe as she held her behind her.

The Cyberman moved in a blur again, knocking Star out of the way and grabbing Angie who screamed as it carried her over it shoulder and out the room.

"Angie!" Clara yelled.

"Star!" the Doctor rushed over to her as she groaned.

"That was a Cyberman!" the captain gasped, "but they're extinct."

"Listen to me," the Doctor turned to Clara, "we will get her back."

"You're platoon doesn't do much fighting does it?" Star guessed, walking over to the captain.

"What do you expect?" the captain scoffed.

"What?" Clara blinked.

"We're a punishment platoon. It's why they sent us out here. So we can't get into trouble."

"Ah, right, well, ok. As imperial Consul," the Doctor took the captains badge and pinned it on Star, "I am putting Star in charge and Clara in second in command, both of you stay alive until I get back and don't let anyone blow up this planet."

"Can I?" Star asked.

"No!"

She pouted as Clara asked, "Is that something they're likely to do?"

"Get to somewhere defensible."

"Is there a reason I'm in charge?" Star ran after him.

"You now what you're doing." he replied.

"Where are YOU going?" Clara called.

He stopped and turned to them, "I'm getting Angie, finding Artie and looking for funning insects. Stay alive, and you lot," he turned to the platoon, "no blowing up this planet!" he left the room.

"Ok," Star clapped her hands, "first we catalogue resource, bring all USEFUL weapons here, anything that could take out a Cyberman that means Cyberiad Class Weaponry. Second, we check anyone for injuries, and give them medical attention immediately. Fourth..."

"Third." Clara corrected.

"Yeah, third, or C. You bring a map of the entire park do we can find somewhere defensible where we can hide and plan our attack. Fourth..."

Clara blinked as Star walked off still rambling about strategic plans and what needs to be done. For someone so childish all the time she found it hard to believe when she told her that she had fought in a war.

"Cyberiad class Weaponry." the captain gestured to where the soldiers were unloading cases of weapons, "I've taken it out of storage."

"Good." Star nodded, "now we need to find somewhere defensible."

"Where?" Clara asked.

The captain showed them the map of the park, "the beach," she pointed to the places in turn, "the Giants Cauldron...Natty long shoes Comical Castle."

"Real castle? Drawbridge? Moat?"

"Yes. But comical.

"We'll go there." Star decided.

"Ma'am…my platoon can deal with one Cyberman. And there are protocols if we cannot immediately find and destroy it."

"There shall be no planet blowing up today."

"Respectfully ma'am…"

"Listen to me," Star advanced dangerously on her, "I know what im doing. Im a soldier, if I say we're not blowing up the planet. We are NOT blowing up the planet." She flashed her eyes a second, "understood?"

"Yes ma'am." The captain swallowed.

She grinned, "Good."

"She's your commanding officer now," Porridge smirked as he walked over, "isn't she, captain?"

"Yes…sir."

Star frowned at how…respectful the woman sounded to the man before she and Clara walked off, checking the weapons.

"You really saw a Cyberman?" Porridge asked the captain.

"We really did." She nodded.

"Have you reported it to the imperium?"

"No communicators."

"So you're going to do what they say." She nodded, "right, lets all spend the night in Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle."

"Hey!" Star crouched down to his eye level, "Look, you may be the Emperor," she smirked as his eyes widened, "but im in charge right now. You want to be treated as a civilian; I'll treat you like one."

"I could do with a girl like you on my guard." He smiled at her.

A girl who took charge.

Who didn't let anyone boss them around, no matter who they were.

"You couldn't handle me." She winked.

~.~

Star, Clara, Porridge and the soldiers approached the castle.

"What would the Empire do if they WERE alerted?" Clara inquired to Star.

"Blow up the planet." She stated.

"After they got us off…right?"

"Unlikely."

"You're very good." Porridge eyed her.

"Training." She shrugged him off, trying to not say much as she hated talking about it, "it's hard to forget being tortured to become a stone hard soldier."

"Tortured?" Clara gaped.

"You think I'd kill just because I was told to?" Star looked at her, with such a pitiful, regretful, solemn look. "I was tortured and forced to regenerated." They stopped at the drawbridge, "ah!" she grinned, as though she hadn't just casually remarked that she had been tortured in the past, "drawbridge, moat, brilliant!"

"With respect, ma'am." A ginger man with glasses called, "we ought to be hunting the creature."

"The only reason im still alive is because I do what the Doctor says," Clara looked back at him, "can you guarantee me you'd bring me back my children alive and unharmed?" he shook his head, "I trust the Doctor."

"You think he knows what he's doing?" the captain frowned.

"I wouldn't go that far." Star laughed.

~.~

Star and Clara strode through the castles gallery above the courtyard when the ginger man approached, "erm, ma'ams, Missy said she saw something" he held up his comm. "and then she went quiet."

"It's on its way," Star nodded, "weapons! Show us."  
>"One gun?" Clara frowned, seeing only one large gun there.<p>

"Cybermen have been extinct for 1,000 years." The captain stated, "Even one anti-cyber gun is a miracle. These things are…"

"Hand pulser." Star cut in, slipping it on her hand like a glove, a red light on her palm, "touch the back of a Cybermen's head, the electromagnet pulse deactivates it."  
>"Yes, ma'am."<p>

"What's this for?" Clara nodded to the large black box, "just a mad guess here, it blows up the planet?"  
>"Implodes it." the captain corrected, "there's also a trigger unit." She held up a thin cylinder.<p>

"I'll take that," she took the cylinder, "how else can you activate the bomb?"

"It's set to respond to MY voice. I have the verbal code."

"You shall not activate it without an order from Star or me."

The captain stood, making Star also stand and stand face to face, "I will follow my orders."

"And your orders come from me," Star smirked, "don't think I wont rip out your voice box if you disobey me, I will."

"You'll need to sign for that trigger unit, ma'am." The ginger man cut in as Clara took the gun, he held out a clipboard for her.

"Thanks." She smiled, signing it.

"Mind if I take one of these?" Porridge asked, holding a hand pulser "might be handy."

Clara chuckled at that.

"Help yourself." Star said, keeping eye contact on the captain, letting her know she was not joking. "Captain, you can teach him how to use it?"

"Upstairs," the captain ordered him, tensing her jaw, "now." She stormed off to teach him, as ordered.

~.~

Star and Clara climbed the stairs to the upper gallery, Clara wanted to ask the captain about the bomb, "I don't get it," she said to the woman, cutting into her conversation with porridge, "why would you blow up a whole planet, and everybody on it, just to get rid of one Cyberman?" she set the bomb down, neither girls trusting the platoon to watch it in case they gave it to the captain.

"We tried other ways," Porridge sighed, "but they only work sometimes. So now we take drastic action. And it works."

"If you find a Cyberman," the captains stated, "and you can't destroy it immediately, you implode the planet. I was sent here because I didn't follow orders. I can make up for that."

"Put it down!" Star ordered as the woman picked the bomb up, "I forbid you!"

"Yeah. What she said." Porridge agreed.

"You ran away," the captain accused Porridge, "I will do what I was brought up to do. Live up for the empire, fight for the empire, die for the empire. This is Captain Alice Ferrin, Imperial ID 19-delta013B. Activate…" before she could finish a beam hit her, killing her dead.

"Cyberman!" Porridge shouted, "Get down!"

They ducked down, before Star jumped back up, seeing the Cyberman walk away, having hit its target.

"Come on." Star helped Clara back up, "plan of attack."

"The Doctor said to get somewhere easily defensible." Clara recalled, "But if we stay in the castle, it'll pick us off one by one."

"So we take it out." Star smiled, turning to face the army gathered behind her. Oh, she would look forwards to killing a Cyberman, she still wanted revenge over them killing her mother, she would always want revenge.

"Is that an order, ma'am?" a fat solder asked.

"I believe it is."

"Good."

"You know what to do?" Clara eyed them.

"Pulse to the back of the head," the ginger man held up his pulser, "fry the brain circuit interface."

"Its going to be hard to get in close enough."

~.~

Star and Clara hid behind a low wall, Clara with a pusler on her hand as Star had a fist clenched, the blue glow one of them, in the other she held the gun, ready to attack, . She could guess now that the glow was a sign of her growing stronger in her power, her shields and blasts always had a faint blue glow around them, but now her hands had them as she prepared to attack. Honestly, it felt amazing to feel the power growing inside her before she even used it.

They peeked over the wall, watching as the Cyberman took out two soldiers, the fat man before them, "I've heard about the Cybermen, since I was in my cradle. Im not afraid of you!"

"Now!" Star shouted and the man jumped out of the way, firing the gun disintegrating the Cyberman.

"Hold it right there!" the man gasped, looked at the fallen soldiers to see blinking lights I their left ears.

"What's happened to them?" Clara breathed.

"They've been upgraded." Star remarked, "one more step and I fire!"

"Don't fire that," the man called, "a pulse will deactivate them." He nodded to two other soldiers who used the pulsers on the soldiers, knocking them unconscious, "and anyway…it's a waste of charge. We may need it again."

"I know," Star smirked, "I was testing you. You're a good soldier."

"Ma'am."

"You don't think that was the only one, then?" Clara frowned.

"Webley said he had three in his collection." Star reminded her, "Besides, with mine and dad's luck, no way is their only one Cyber."

The Doctor ran towards the castle, with Webley, Angie and Artie following him, "don't shoot, don't shoot," he lowered the chessboard he was carrying over his face, "im nice! Please, don't shoot!" he spotted Star and Clara, "hey, there's my girls; you haven't let them blow up the planet. Good job."

"What the hell happened to you?" Star demanded, gesturing to the piece of metal on his check, which had the golden ticket on it.

"Did you get the kids?" Clara cut in before he could answer, "Are they all right? What's going on?"

"Bit of good news/bad news/good news again thing going on." The Doctor winced, "so…good news, I've kidnapped their Cyber planner, and right now im sort of in control of his Cyberman."

"Bad news?"

"Bad news, the Cyber planner's in my head."

"What!?" Star cried.

"And DIFFERENT bad news, the kids are…well, its complicated."

"Complicated how?" Clara glared at him.

"Complicated as it walking coma." He hid behind his chessboard and ducked behind the kids.

Clara hurried over to them, seeing the blinking devices attached to them. "Please tell me you can wake them up."  
>"Hope so." He sang.<p>

"Other good news?"

"Well, in other good news, there are a few more repaired and reactivated Cybermen on the way. And the Cyber planners installing a patch for the gold thing."  
>"That's not good news!" Star groaned.<p>

"Ah, um, so…good news, I have a very good chance of winning my chess match."

"What?" Clara blinked.

"Explain." Star demanded.

"Later," he waved her off, "In a bit of a hurry, get me to a table. And somebody tie me up! Need hands free for chess. And immobile me. Quickly!" he ran into the castle, leaving Star and Clara little choice but to follow.

~.~

Star had quickly gotten to tie the Doctor up in a chair in the castles throne room; she'd enjoyed to too much to be natural, had left his hands free. The chess board set up on the table in front of him. Webley, Angie and Artie stood facing him.

"Right, that's good. He wiggled around, testing his movements, "I won't be able to move, but…hands free. Good."

"You're playing chess with yourself?" Clara shook her head.

"And winning." He ripped off the ticket and jolted.

"Actually, he has no better than a 25% chance of winning at this stage in the game. Some very dodging moves at the beginning. Hello, flesh girls. Fantastic! Im the Cyber planner."

"You're an idiot." Star countered, looking in disgusted at the man who looked and sounded like her dad, but she could just tell it was no longer him.

"Doctor…?" Clara hesitated, walking closer when Star held her back, not trusting the Cyber planner.

"Afraid not." He smirked, "im working the mouth now. Allons-y! Oh, you should see the state of these neurons; he's had some cowboys in here. 10 complete rejigs."

"You aren't the Doctor."

"No, but I know who YOU are. You're the impossible girl. Ohh, he's very interested in you."

"Why am I impossible?"

"Clara ignore him." Star told her.

"Hasn't he told you? Hasn't Star?" he smirked at her, "the sly devil. Oh, dear me. Soon, we wake; we'll strip you down for spare parts, then build a spaceship and move on."

"How many more Cybermen are there?" Star asked.

"They're awaking from their tomb right now. You can either die or live as one of us."

"We'll stop you."

"He can't even access the lips."

"But he's got me." She smirked and slapped his face. Hard.

"Ow! Ow! Oh, that hurt! No, bit of pain, neural surge, just what I needed. Thanks."

"There's more of that." Star grinned.

"Why am I the impossible girl?" Clara demanded.

"It's a thing in my head. I'll explain later."

"What are the stakes?" Star wondered.

"If he wins, I give up my mind and he gets access to all my memories, along with knowledge of time travel. But if I win, he'll break his promise to get out of my head and then kill us anyway."

"That's not reassuring." Clara murmured.

"No."

"Please tell me you can fix what happened to the children."

"Children. Yeah. They're fine. I mean, right now their brains are just in stand-by mode."

"That's not fine!"

"Listen, right now, they have a better chance of getting out of this situation alive than you do."  
>"Hello Mr Cyber planner." Star glared at him.<p>

"Hello, little Star. It's me Cyber planner. Mr Clever. Now, if you don't mind, I have a chess game to finish. And YOU," he poked Clara's forehead, "have to die, pointlessly and very far from home. Toodle-loo." He waved mockingly to them as they left, Star leaving the bomb in the room, away from the soldiers and knowing the Doctor or Cyber-planner couldn't get to it.

~.~

"There are more Cybermen on the way." Star informed the platoon as she and Clara stood near the drawbridge.

"There's at least a dozen more shots left in the gun before it needs to recharge." The ginger nodded to the gun in his hands.

"We'll have more than a dozen Cybermen to worry about," she sighed when she spotted a cable on the ground, "what's that cable?"

"Power line for the park." Porridge answered.

"What'd happen if we dropped the end into the moat and turned it on?" Clara asked, seeing that Star had thought of.

"Fry anything that entered the water." The fat soldier smiled.

"Can Cybermen fly?"

"Nope."

"First good news of the day."

Star turned to the man "do it."

They stood back as the men lowered the cable into the water and turned on the power. It burst with power on contact and continued to crackle as the retreated back inside the castle and raised the drawbridge.

They set up a line of defence in the courtyard, when Porridge came over and handed them both a cup of soup to warm them up against the chill, not that Star felt it, but still it was a nice gesture.

When the Doctor called for Star, "Oi, Star, get in here!"

She groaned, "I'll see what he wants. Call me if there's any change." She handed Clara her soup and headed inside. "What?" she crossed her arms, storming over as the Doctor or Cyber planner, whichever it was.

"Hey!" he smiled at her, "there's my shining star. Now, quick rundown. What's our weapons strength?"

"I'm not gonna tell you, in case you're not you. But…" she pulled out the trigger, "we have this."

"Oh, don't worry. The Cyber planners hibernating between moves right no. Ssh."

"Tell me something only he would know."

"I know that I love you dearly, no matter how insane or dangerous you are. That you are and always will be my daughter, my Star."

She shook her head, "No," she smirked at him, "tell me my name."

And the smile faded.

She laughed darkly, "Im not stupid, I know my own dad, and I know you are not him." she slapped her face again, just as hard as before.

"Ow!" the Doctor cried, the real Doctor, "yes! It's me! That really hurt! How did you know that was him?!"

She shrugged, smiled fondly at him, "I know you. Now finish this stupid game."

The planer suddenly reached out with his left hand and held her right hand tightly, "Ow." She gasped.

"He's got control of the left arm," the Doctor gasped horrified, using his right arm to tried to make his left let go, "argh! No! No!" the Cyber planner bashed his left hand and Stars arm with the trigger on the table, smashing the trigger to pieces, "Aaagh!"

"No!" Star cried.

"He got what he wanted," the Doctor breathed, as he hand finally get go of Star, "he destroyed the trigger. My move."

"He means…" the Cyber planner was back "good news, boys and girls! THEY'RE HERE!" he chuckled as Star ran out the room, needed to warn everyone.

"They're here!" Star warned them, "The Cybermen are here!"

"1 gun, 5 hand pulsers and a planet smashing bomb that doesn't work anymore," Clara sighed. "you alright?" she looked at Star who rubbed her wrist.

"Just a little sore," she mumbled, "hell of grip that Cyber planners got. This wrists been through worst though." It had been broken by a Weeping Angel and then healed by the Doctor.

They watched as the Cybermen marched on the castle, stepping into the moat, making sparks fly, it moved jerkily, bending over.

"Brilliant." Clara laughed seeing the plan working.

"Wait a minute." Star held up a hand, knowing better than anyone to never underestimate your enemy.

They Cyberman straighten, "upgrade in progress." It stated, its chest glowing before continuing across the moat, the other Cybers follow.

"Damn." Clara breathed.

"Who has the best shot?" Star looked at the soldiers.

"Probably me." The fat soldier hesitantly raised his hand.

"Shoot any of them who make it across." She handed him the gun, "the rest of you, take defensive positions." The soldiers headed of, "Porridge?"

"Yes?" he looked at her.

"Keep yourself safe" she winked and Porridge hurried off as the Cybers reached the gate.

~.~

Star and Clara watched from the upper gallery as the soldiers fought the Cybermen.

Star suddenly took off down the stairs.

"Where are you going?!" Clara yelled after her.

"To stop these metal idiots!" she growled, running into the courtyard where most of the Cybermen gathered.

~.~

She stood in the centre of the courtyard, the Cybermen giving up attacking the soldiers and all advancing on her as she stood perfectly calm, her eyes closed, waiting…before her eyes snapped open, their brilliant crimson that apparently no one seemed to like and the power blasted at the Cybermen from her chest, turning every single one of them into nothing but small pieces of metal. She laughed manically as she destroyed all the Cybermen on the planet before she ran into the throne room with Clara and the soldiers just as the Doctor put a hand pusler on his face. He jerked, falling face down on the table before sitting up again, the cybernetics gone.

"Just taking advantage of the local resources." He straightened his bowtie, smug. "Ah, hello," he smiled at them all, "can someone untie me, please?"

"Or what?" Star challenged playfully, knowing that that was the Doctor.

"Or no Disney until your 1000th."

"You wouldn't dare." She cried, outraged, as she untied him.

"Try me." he laughed, pulling her into a hug.

"What happened to the Cyber planner?" Clara asked.

"One of my head and redistributed across 3 million Cybermen. About to wake them up, kill us and start constructing a spaceship." He hurried to the bomb.

"But Doctor," Clara called, "Star…" she stopped talking as Star slowly shook her head at her, clearly not wanting the Doctor to know what she had done.

He didn't hear anyway, "we need to destroy this planet before they can get off. Ok." He scanned the bomb with the sonic, "it has fallback voice activation."

"Well isn't it good we have Porridge." Star grinned.

"He is the emperor." Angie added, "I bet HE knows the activation codes." Porridge looked down, "oh, come on, it's obvious. He looked exactly like he does on the coin and on the waxwork, except they made him a bit taller, but…look are Star and I the only ones paying attention, to ANYTHING around here?"

"You are full of surprises." Clara gaped at her before turning to Porridge, "Porridge?"  
>"They're right." He nodded.<p>

"So you can save us?"

"We all die in the end. Does it matter how?" he shrugged.  
>"What do we do?" the ginger man asked.<p>

"I don't want to be emperor. If I activate that bomb, its all over."

"And if you don't, 3 million Cybermen will spread across the galaxy," the Doctor countered, "isn't that worth dying for?"

"Doctor…"

"3 million Cybermen!"

"The bomb, the throne, its all connected. I just have to say 'this is emperor Ludens Nimrod Kendrick, called Longstaff of 41st, the defended of humanity, imperator of known space. Activate the Desolator," the bomb activated, "and it's done. It'll blow in about 80 seconds. Easily long enough for the Imperial Flagship to locate me form my identification, warp-jump into orbit, and transmat us to the state room." He closed his eyes, all of them teleported to a large room with purple banners and a large window looking down at the planet.

"Oh, yeah!" the Doctor looked around, "Nice ship. Bit big. Not blue enough. Listen. There is a large blue box at coordinates 6 ultra 19p. We need it transmitted up here right away."

"Right," Porridge nodded, turning to a tech standing at a pedestal, "did you get that?" the tech nodded and the sonic beeped, signalling the TARDIS was on board.

They all looked out the window.

"And that's that." Porridge smiled, "76, 77, 78, 79…"

The planet exploded and they knocked around from the blast.

"Farewell, Cyberiad," Porridge murmured, "you know…it was GOOD to get away. Good to be a person and not to be lonely or emperor of 1,000 galaxies, with everybody waiting for me to tell them what to do."

"Can't you run away again?" Artie asked.

"They'll be keeping a close eye on me this time. That's what happens when you're emperor, loneliest job in the universe."

"You don't have to be lonely." Clara said softly.

"I don't," he agreed and turned to Star on one knee, "Star…will you marry me?"

"What?" she blinked.

"He said…" Artie began.

"She heard what he said…" Angie rolled her eyes.

"You're smart and you're beautiful and I've never met anyone like you before. And being emperor won't be as hard if you're by my side. And you'd rule 1,000 galaxies."

"I think you should ask the fathers permission first!" the Doctor glared, crossing his arms.

"I do want to rule 1,000 galaxies," she began, "but…I want to earn it, not marry into it."

"Yeah," Porridge looked down, "silly of me." He should have seen that coming.

"Sorry."

"But that's stupid." Angie rolled her eyes, "you could be queen of the universe. How can you say not to that? When someone asks you if you want to be queen of the universe you say yes. You watch one day, I'll be queen of the universe."

Porridge smiled at Angie's declaration and stood up, "of course, I could have you all executed, which is what a proper emperor would do."  
>"But you won't." Star countered, "I won't let you."<p>

"Go on," he chuckled, "get out of here, all of you."

They Doctor headed to the TARDIS and the humans followed.

"You never know," Star whispered to Porridge, "you may see my in a trial one day." She winked and followed the group.

~.~

Clara leaned against the console as Angie and Artie said their goodbyes.

"Thank you for having me," Artie shook the Doctors hands, "it was very interesting."

"Our pleasure," the Doctor smiled, "thank you for coming."

"Oh, we've got something for you." Star pointed at Angie, "it's from the TARDIS," she ran around the console, "a new phone!" she handed Angie the mobile.

"Thanks!" Angie beamed.

"And…you can call anywhere in the universe, you'll always have signal."

"Sorry I said that this box was stupid," she shook the Doctors hand, before headed to the door.

"Bye!" the Time Lords waved.

"Bye!"

"Thanks, Clara. Thanks Star. Thanks Doctor." Artie called as they exited.

"Thank you." Clara smiled at them.

"For what?" the Doctor frowned.

"Kids day out, getting us off the planet alive, whatever you were doing with the Cybermen…" her gaze shifted to Star, who looked directly back at her. "Goodnight. See you next Wednesday." She left.

"Well…a Wednesday." Star laughed, "Definitely. Another Wednesday, last Wednesday, one Wednesday." She sighed, "Impossible girl."

"A mystery wrapped in an enigma squeezed into a skirt that's just a little too…tight." The Doctor shook his head.  
>"What are you?"<p>

~.~

"Your powers growing," the Doctor remarked.

"Suppose it is," Star agreed, distracted by the console, trying to avoid the conversation knowing where it was heading.

"Anything you want to tell me?" he leaned on the console eyeing her.

"Not really," she glanced at him, seeing he knew exactly what she had done and sighed, "I just…Cybermen…I panicked and destroyed them all. I didn't even realised what I had done until it was too late and worst of all I don't even care. Im glad I did it! Are you angry?" she asked quietly.

"No," he shook his head, "just be careful." he warned, she was getting strong each day and he couldn't help but worry that she was getting too strong to handle it herself. If something happened to her because she couldn't control it, he'd never forgive himself.


	17. The name of the Doctor

The Maitland house was quiet as the Doctor sat on the sofa, his eyes full of tears, as Star sat next to him, leaning her head in his shoulder, his hand in hers as she tried her best to comfort him. They'd just received the most horrible news from Clara.

They had gone to pick Clara up to seeing Mr Maitland fretting as he needed to go next door but Clara was asleep and he didn't want to leave the kids unattended. But the Doctor had volunteered to look after them; they were going to wait for Clara anyway. The kids had asked to go to the cinema but the Doctor refused at which point Angie requests they play Blind Mans Buff.

Star had merely watched, amused as through the game the kids had snuck out to go to the cinema, the Doctor having no clue continued looking for them in his blind fold before Clara woke up and came downstairs and told them the news.

Vastra had sent her a message, where she was put in a dream-state were she met up with her, Jenny and Strax and, somehow River Song. A man from Vastra's time had given her space time coordinates to...Trenzalore, the Doctor biggest secret. But seething had happened to Jenny, and they were attacked by men in black suits with no eyes and sharp teeth, forcing them to wake up.

And so there they were in sitting on the sofa as Clara made them tea, "so who was she? The lady with the funny name and the space hair?" she called from the kitchen.

"An old...friend." Star offered.

"River asked Vastra for the exact words," the Doctor cut in, "what were they?"

"'The Doctor has a secret he will take to the grave. It is discovered.'"

"Doctor?" Clara walked over carrying a tray of tear and saw tears in the mans eyes.

"Sorry," his voice broke, "and it was Trenzalore? Definitely Trenzalore?"

"Yeah."

The Doctor put his hands over his eyes, "oh, dear...sorry." he sniffed and ran out the house, not wanting to let either girl see him cry.

"Star, what's Trenzalore?" Clara asked her as they followed him.

"It's...his grave." she swallowed. "The one place you must NEVER go."

They found the Doctor sitting on the stage units under the console.

"Right," the Doctor stood up seeing them approach, "come here and give me your hand," Clara walked over, "the coordinates you saw will still be in your memory. I'm linking you into the TARDIS telepathic circuit, won't hurt a bit." he jabbed a cable into her palm.

"Oi!" Clara hissed.

"I lied."

"Ok, how can you have a grave?"

"Because we all do," the Doctor shrugged as they walked up to the console. "Somewhere out there in the future, waiting for us. The trouble with time travel, you can actually end up visiting..."

"But you're not going to. It's the one place you must never go."

"We have to save Vastra and Strax," Star cut in.

"Jenny too, if it's still possible," the Doctor agreed. "They cared for us during the dark times, never questioned us, never judged, they were just...kind."

"We both owe them."

The Doctor looked at Clara, "no point telling you its too dangerous."

"None at all." Clara shook her head. "How can we save them?"

"Apparently...by breaking into my own tomb!" he pulled a lever down, throwing the trio off balance as the TARDIS jerked and bounced.

"What's that?" Clara gasped.

"She just figured out where we're going!" Star called as she and the Doctor tried to keep control, "she doesn't like it."

"I'm about to cross my own time line in the biggest way possible, the TARDIS doesn't like it," the Doctor grunted. "She's fighting it! Hang on! Hang on!"

Sparks flew from the console as the TARDIS resisted, a small explosion sending them against the rails as the room went dark.

"She doesn't want us to land," Star sighed, "she's shut down"

"So, we're not there," Clara frowned.

She hit a lever, "we're close."

The Doctor walked to the doors and looked out, "so that's where I end up." they looked down at the planet below, covered in ash and smoke and fire, "always through maybe I retire. Take up watercolours, or bee keeping or something. Apparently not."

"As if you would have the patience to retire," Star tried to joke and earned a small twitch of a smile from him.

"So, how do we get down there?" Clara wondered. "Jump?"

"Don't be silly!" the Doctor scoffed, "we fall." he closed the door, unable to look at the planet any longer. "She turned off practically everything except the anti-grabs. Guess what I'm turning off?" he flashed the sonic at the console and they plummeted down to the planet and landed with a crash.

The Doctor opened the door and looked up at a pane of glass to see it cracked, "oops," he winced, before looking around and fully stepping out with Clara and Star following.

Gravestones surrounded them in various sizes and shapes, above, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

"You ok?" Star asked, taking his hand.

"Visiting your own grave, anyone would be scared," Clara agreed.

"It's more than that," the Doctor muttered, "I'm a time traveller. I've probably time travelled more than anyone else."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning...my grave is potentially the most dangerous place in the universe. Shall we?"

"Gravestones a bit basic."

"It's a battlefield graveyard, my final battle." the Doctor breathed.

"Why are some of them bigger?" Clara frowned.

"They're soldiers," Star explained, "the bigger the gravestone, the high the rank."

They looked on and on a high hill was giant TARDIS.

"Well, bright side, it's a helluva monument," Clara tried to keep it light.

"It's not a monument," Star shook her head, "it's the actually TARDIS herself."

"What?"

"When a TARDIS is dying," the Doctor explained, "sometimes the dimension dams start breaking down. They used to call it a size leak, all the bigger on the inside starts leaking to the outside. It grows. It's our TARDIS from the future." he walked ahead, bitterly, "what else would the bury me in?"

Star shook her head, sighing when Clara turned around as though hearing someone, she followed her gaze and it landed on a gravestone, "River...Doctor!" she called him back over.

"What?" he grumbled, "We need to get a move on." She pointed to the gravestone with Rivers name in. "River..." he ran his hands on the stone.

"That can't be right," Clara frowned.

"No, it can't."

"She's not dead."

"She's been dead for a long time," Star murmured, "dead before I started travelling."

"But I met her!" Clara insisted.

"Long story," the Doctor waved her off, "but her grave can't be here."

"Doctor!" Star called suddenly, making them turn to see the man without eyes and sharp teeth approaching them.

The Doctor stepped in front of Clara, pulling the sonic out, "this man must fall as all men must," they whispered, their mouths barely moving, "the fate of all is always dust."

"What do you think the gravestone really is?" Clara asked randomly.

"The gravestone?" the Doctor quickly glanced back at her.

"Maybe it's a false grave."

"Could be." Star nodded, if it was her grave it should say 'Melody Pond' not 'River Song'.

"Maybe it's a secret entrance to the tomb!"

"Yes, of course, makes sense!" the Doctor spin and flashed the sonic at the grave, "They'd never have buried my sister out here!"

"You're what?" Clara gaped as the ground opened beneath them and they fell.

"The man who lied will lie no more when this man lies at Trenzalore." the men whispered as they followed.

"Come on," Star grabbed the Doctors hand and led them down the tunnels.

Once far away from the men the Doctor lit a torch from the wall.

"Where are we?" Clara asked.

"Catacombs." Star answered.

"So how come I met your dead sister?"

"She's not actual his sister. We just sort of...adopted her, she's half human, half Time Lady."

"I made a back up." the Doctor remarked. "You know how it is when you lose someone close to you. Come on!" he suddenly shouted seeing the creatures behind Clara, a hand out it grab her, "run, run!" they hurried down the hall to another door, "come in, quickly, we're in," they shoved the door shut and Star frowned seeing the room similar to the TARDIS.

"Doctor!" Clara cried as she was grabbed by the creatures.

"Clara!" Star gasped, pulling her free and pushing the door on the creatures hand, she leaned on it and the hand slipped through baking her to close the door fully.

"Yowzah!" the Doctor panted, dropping the torch as they continued up some stairs, "bit of a climb. Think I remember the way." he turned back as he and Star walked ahead, to see Clara lagging behind, "Clara. Clara?" try ran back to her as she dragged, leaning against a wall, "it's ok. The dimensioning forces this deep in the TARDIS, they can make you a bit giddy," he held her, supporting her as they walked.

"I know. I know," she blinked and pulled away from him, "how do I know? How do I know that?"

"Clara, its ok, your fine."

"Have we done this before? We have! We have done this before, climbing through a wrecked TARDIS, you said thing, things I'm not supposed to remember."

"Not now," Star huffed, "the TARDIS is a ruin, the telepathic circuits are awakening memories you shouldn't even have."

"Clara?" the Doctor eyed her as she stumbled, "Clara? What's wrong?

"What did you mean?" she whispered, "you keep meeting me? You said I died! How could I die?"

"That's not a conversation you should even remember..."

"What do you mean I died?"

"The girl who died he tried to save. Shall die again inside his grave," the men hissed.

"Run!" Star yelled, not even bothering to find them, "just run!"

~.~

They ran up the stairs just in time to see Dr Simeon, being controlled by the Great Intelligence since the man had died, standing there before Vastra, Jenny and Strax, before the doors off the over large TARDIS. "The doors require a key," the man was speaking, "the key is a word. And the word is...the Doctors."

"Here I am," the Doctor called, as they stepped into the mans view, "late to my own funeral. Glad to see you could make it, Jenny." he nodded at her, glad she was alive.

"Open the door, Doctor," Simeon ordered, "speak and open your tomb."

"No." the Doctor said, firmly.

"Because you know what's in there?"

"I will not open those doors."

"The key is a word lost to time. A secret hidden in the deepest shadow and known and your daughter," he eyed Star as she and Clara stood back with Vastra, Jenny and Strax, "the answer to a question."

The Doctor to face to face with Simeon, "I will not open my tomb."

"Doctor, what is your name?"

The Doctor didn't answer so Simeon gripped the Doctors face until Star shoved his hand away.

"Don't mess with my family," Star sneered, "or our friends."

Simeon smirked at her, "the Doctor's friends," he called to the creatures, "stop their hearts."

The creatures hissed and advanced on Clara, Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

"Madam, boys, combat formation!" Strax ordered, "They are unarmed!"  
>"So are we!" Jenny countered.<p>

"Do not divulge our military secrets."

"Stop this," the Doctor turned to Simeon, "leave them alone."

"Your names, Doctor." He glared at him, "answer me!"

"Doctor!" Clara breathed

Strax picked up a pipe and striked the creature in front of it, it went through it, slicing the body, "do you want me to do that again?" the hole closed.

"AH!" Star screamed as one of the creatures grabbed her right heart.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at Simeon, "Doctor who?" he smirked at the Time Lord.

The Doctor looked at everyone as the creatures reached for their hearts. "Please, stop it!" he pleaded.

"Doctor who?"

"Unhand me, sir!" Strax cried as he was grabbed.

"Don't do it!" Star yelled.

"Please!" the Doctor begged.

Behind him the doors opened. The creatures releasing their hold.

"Why did you open the door, sir?" Strax grunted, "I had them on the run!"

"I didn't do it." the Doctor shook his head.

"No one said his name." Star frowned, jumping up from where she had fallen to her knees in pain.

The Doctor swallowed before turned to check on everyone, "is everyone all right? Is everyone ok? Clara, you ok?"

"That was not nice." She coughed.

"Star? Fine?"

"Im good." She nodded, rubbing her heart lightly.

"Im sorry," he hugged her tightly.

"Really, im fine."

He nodded and stormed over to Simeon, angry, not only for attack his friend, but for attacking his daughter and hurting her! "Now then Dr Simeon. Or Mr G Intelligence, whatever I call you…do you know what's in there?"

"For me, peace at last." He smirked, "for you, pain everlasting. Wont you invite us in." he stepped aside.

The Doctor looked back at Clara before tensing his jaw and pushing the doors open with a groan, allowing them in.

The console room has vines growing through it, it was dark and torn apart, broken, really. The Time Lords led them up the stairs to the main level, hearing the cloister bell ring, where the time rotor was gone and in its pale was a tower of light, with different strands rotating around each other.

Star felt her breathe leave her at the sight. The TARDIS was here on Trenzalore, she was in the TARDIS travelling the stars never stop…everywhere. The TARDIS was here, dying, so…either she gave up travelling…or she died her aswell…

"What's that?" Clara breathed, cutting her out of her thoughts.

"What were you expecting?" the Doctor sighed, "a body? Bodies are boring. I've had loads of em." he looked down seeing Star take his hand, squeezing it, "that's not what my tomb is for."

"But what is the light?" Vastra wondered.

"It's beautiful." Jenny smiled.

"Should I destroy?" Strax looked at them.

"Shut up, Strax." Star rolled her eyes at him.

"Doctor, Star, explain." Clara turned to him, "what is that?"

"The tracks of my tears." The Doctor murmured.

"Less poetry, Doctor," Simeon sneered, "just tell them."

"Time travel is…damage. It's like a tear in the fabric of reality. That is the scar tissue of my journey through the universe. My path through time and space, from Gallifrey to Trenzalore." He flashed the sonic on the light.

"Have you ever through what it's like to be wonderers in the 4th dimension?" they heard the 1st Doctor ask.

"…Cybermen…" the 6th Doctor was heard, "they're still in the nursery compared to us…"

"There are corners of the universe that have bred the most dangerous things…" the 2nd Doctor.

"Do I have the right?" the 4th Doctor wondered.

"You were fantastic," the 9th cheered, "absolutely fantastic!"

"I'm the Doctor," the 10th called, "im from Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasterborous…"

"So you see…" the 5th said.

"Hello Stonehenge!" the 11th shouted.

"It was the daisiest daisy I'd ever seen." The 3rd finished.

"My own personal time tunnel," the Doctor muttered, "all the days, even the ones that…" he blinked, feeling…weak and staggered, "I, er, even the ones that I haven't lived yet." he collapsed to the floor.

"Dad!" Star cried, rushing straight to his side.

"Doctor!" Clara ran over.

"We shouldn't be here. The paradox…it's too much."

"No," the Doctor looked over seeing Simeon head towards the light, "what are you doing? Somebody stop him!"

"The Doctors live is an open wound." He stated, "And an open wound can be entered."

"No, it would destroy you."

"Not at all. It will kill me, it will destroy you. I can rewrite your every living moment. I can turn every one of your victories into defeats. Poison every friendship. Deliver pain to your every breath. Change any moment of yours…."

It would burn you up." the Doctor told him, "once you go though, you can't come back, you'll be scattered along my timeline, like confetti."

"It matters not, Doctor. You thwart me at every turn. Now, you will give me peace as I take my revenge on every second of your life! Goodbye…goodbye Doctor!" he smirked and his gaze different to Star, "goodbye Star!"

"What…?" Star breathed. It was the Doctors timeline not hers, it would affect her, unless…oh no. She watched in horror as Simeon stepped into the light with a scream, the creatures disappeared as Simeon was consumed by the light.

"What's wrong with him?" Clara gasped as the Doctor cried in pain, "what's happening?"

"He's being rewritten!" Vastra's eyes widened.

They looked at the timeline able to see Simeon appear every time he changed the Doctors past.

Star swallowed hard at that, if Simeon was changing his past, all of him, every incarnation, then…she would have never been born, that or he would change her life, just ever so slightly…

"Simeon is attacking his entire timeline," Vastra gasped, "he's dying all at once. The Dalek Asylum. Androzani."

"What did you say?" Clara looked at her sharply, recalling them mentioning she died on the Dalek Asylum, "did you say the Dalek Asylum?"

"Now he's dying in London, with us."

"Oh my god.." Star breathed seeing herself beginning to fade, whether because she was never born or because she was never rescued from the Crucible she didn't know, it didn't matter but were equally bad.

"Star?" Clara hesitantly reached out for her.

"A universe without the Doctor," Vastra continued, "there will be consequences, Jenny. With me." They both left the room.

"The Dalek Asylum," Clara through it over, "you said it was me that saved you. How? Victorian London. How, how could I have been in Victorian London?"

"Star…" the Doctor reached for her, even in his pain, "no…"

"I have to go in there." Clara realised.

"Please." The Doctor begged, "Please, no…"

"You can't Clara." Star looked at her.

"But this is what I've already done," Clara remarked, "You've already seen me do it. I'm the impossible girl and this is why. If I step in there…what happens?" she was quiet a moment, "but the echoes could save the Doctor, right? And Star? But they'll be real enough to save him," she said, as though talking to someone who wasn't there, "like my mum said, the soufflé isn't the soufflé, the soufflé is the recipe," she looked between Star and the Doctor, "it's the only way to save him, isn't it? To save Star?"

"The stars are going out." Vastra returned, "And Jenny and Strax are dead. There must be something we can do?"

"Well, how about that?" Clara stood up, "im soufflé girl after all."  
>"No…." the Doctor called to her, weakly, "please…"<br>"If this works, get out of here as fast as you can. And spare me a thought now and then. In fact you know what?" she turned to them, just before the time tunnel, "run. Run, you clever boy. You insane girl. And remember me."

"Clara." Star stopped her.

"You can't stop me. Ive made up my mind."  
>"Thank you."<p>

Clara smiled at her before stepping through.

Then there was a bight light…

~.~

Clara did it.

The time line was back to normal.

Strax and Jenny were alive again, standing to the side with Vastra. The Doctor was standing to the side with Star both fine, thanks to Clara.

"It was an unprovoked and violent attack," Strax was saying, "but that's no excuse…"

"We are all restored, that is all that matters now." Vastra remarked.

"We are not all restored." The Doctor shook his head.

"We have to get her back!" Star agreed.

"But how?" Jenny asked.

"Is she still alive?" Vastra wondered, "It killed Dr Simeon."

"Clara's got one advantage over the Great Intelligence." The Doctor began to smile.

"Which is?"

"Me."

"Now…if I don't come back…and I might not…"

"Dad!" Star cut him off, "it's YOUR timeline. YOU can keep it open for someone to go in and come out. But that doesn't mean you should go in. im going." She volunteered.

"Absolutely not."

"Please don't argue with me!" she cried.

"There has to be another way. Use the TARDIS, use something. Save her, yes, but for gods sake, be sensible!"

"Don't you dare." The Doctor turned to see a projection of River there, her hand raised for a slap, with the Doctor holding it.

"You shouldn't hit people." Star tsked.

"How are you even doing that?" River breathed, "Im not really here."

"You are always here, to us." The Doctor said. "And we always listen and we can always see you."

"Then why didn't you speak to me?"  
>"It would hurt." Star whispered.<p>

"I believe I could have coped!"

"No, hurt US."

The Time Lords pulled River in tightly, the small family, hugging, before they pulled away.

"Since nobody else in this room cans see you. God knows how that looked." The Doctor joked, looking back at the other as they eyed them oddly. "There is a time to live and a time to sleep. You are an echo, River. Like Clara. Like all of us, in the end. My end."

"You should've faded by now." Star smirked, knowingly.

"It's hard to leave when you haven't said goodbye." She smiled sadly at them.

"Then tell us," the Doctor said, "because we don't know, how do we say it?"

"There's only one way I would accept. If you ever cared about me…say it like you're going to come back."

"Well then," he backed away. "See you around, Professor River Song."

"Til the next time, brother dear."  
>"Later alligator," Star winked.<p>

"In a while crocodile." She laughed, "Oh, there's one more thing."

"As always."  
>"I was mentally linked with Clara. If she's really dead, then how can I still be here?"<p>

"Ok." The Doctor nodded, realising that, "how."

"Spoilers." She gave a teary laugh, "goodbye, Sweeties…" she slowly faded away.

"Ready?" the Doctor looked at Star, who nodded and jumped into his time stream.

~.~

She found Clara, sobbing on the ground on the misty ground, "Please! Please, I don't know where I am."

"Clara!" Star shouted, pushing through to get closer, "I know you can hear me."  
>"Star?" Clara looked up, "I can't see you."<p>

"I'm nearly there. You're inside daddy's time stream. Everything around you is him." they could see the past regenerations walk by.

"They're like ghosts." She murmured. "All his different faces, they're here."

She let out a cry as she fell through the rest of the time stream.

"What's wrong." Clara gasped, "What's happening?"  
>"It's only me." Star assured her, "im not leaving without you. You did it Clara. You stopped the Great Intelligence. Please, follow me voice." She laughed as Clara staggered over to her, the leaf representing who she was and is and will be in her hand, "you can do it. That it!" she beamed as Clara reached her and hugged her, "im so sorry." She tensed seeing a figure behind Clara.<p>

"Who's that?" Clara looked back.

"We should…" she swallowed, "we need to go."  
>"But who is he?"<p>

"He's the Doctor." She stated, "There is only, you, me and dad in here. Now, let's go."  
>"But I never saw that one. I saw all of him. 11 faces, all of them him. He's the 11th Doctor."<p>

"He's my dad, but not the Doctor."

"I don't understand." Clara shook her head.

"The name the Doctor took was a promise. He," she nodded to the figure, "broke the promise. Clara?" she looked down as Clara slumped against her, "Clara?" she put Clara's arm on her shoulder.

"What I did, I did without choice." The figure rasped.  
>"I know." She breathed.<p>

"In the name of peace and sanity."

"But it wasn't the name of the Doctor." He turned to face her, an older man with a short beard, looking at her with such sorrow and pain. "I forgive you." And with that she turned to leave the time tunnel.


	18. The day of the Doctor

**Just to let you guys know, the updates are going to get less frequent now. My life's getting busier but im hoping for once a week, maybe once every to weeks.**

The Doctor smiled as he sat on the small steps in the console room, with Star next to him, just to two of them in the TARDIS as he read a book in Quantum Mechanics. The door opened as Clara rode in on the motorbike they gave her. She was no longer caring for Angie and Artie, she was a teacher now at Coal Hill Secondary school, where Susan had gone and where the Doctor had met his first two companions, apparently Mr Chesterton was the head chairman of the school now instead of just a science teacher and the Doctor had told him who he was and he'd hired Clara on the spot.

"Door!" the Doctor called, not even looking up.

Clara pulled of her helmet and snapped her fingers, grinning as the doors shut behind her. It seemed that the TARDIS was a lot nicer to her now, knowing that she'd gone into the Doctor time stream to save her thief and her maddy and was being nicer to her as a thank you.

"Fancy a week in Ancient Mespotamia?" the Doctor asked, closing the book, "followed by future Mars?"

"Will there be cocktails?" she smirked.

"On the moon!" Star cheered.

"No cocktails for you!" the Doctor pointed warningly at her, "you're too young to drink."

"Its not like I haven't had a cocktail before!" she whined.

"The moon'll do!" Clara winked at Star. It seemed that in the Doctors time stream she was a Time Lady as well, not only was she the person who told him what TARDIS to 'borrow' but she was also the Governess, the Time Lady Stars brother had ended up married, making her the girls sister-in-law but Star preferred to call her her cousin, the Doctor liked the idea of Clara being his niece.

"How's the new job?" the Doctor hugged her. "Teach anything good?"

"No." she shook her head, "learn anything?"

"Not a thing."

They were cut off when there was a thunking noise from above them and the TARDIS jolted.

"What's happening?" Clara gasped.

"Whoa, whoa," the Doctor stumbled over to the monitor, "we're taking off, but the engines aren't going."

Star made her way to the door and found that they were being carried of by a helicopter. She groaned and picked up the phone, dialling.

"Hello?" a girl picked up, "Kate Stewarts phone."

"Hi. It's me! Well, us, Star and the Doctor, calling from the TARDIS. Put Kate on!"

"Oh, hold on." she rolled her eyes as the girl went to get Kate.

"Star," Kate greeted, "hello. We found the TARDIS in a field. I'm having it brought in."

"Hey!" Star pouted the Doctor took the phone off her, leaning out the door.

"No kidding!" the Doctor called into the phone.

"Doctor. Where are you?" Kate asked.

He held the phone to the helicopter as they flew over the Themes.

"Oh, my god!" she breathed, "oh, Doctor, I'm so sorry. We had no idea you were still in there."

The helicopter turned making the Doctor fall out the door.

"Dad!" Star laughed as she and Clara grabbed his legs as he dangled outside.

"...I don't think he can hear me." Kate muttered to someone.

"Next time you knock." Star giggled as she took the phone back.

"I'm having you taken directly to the scene. Where's your father gone?"

"He's..." she peered out the door to see him holding into the base on the TARDIS with his hands, hanging down, "hanging loose." she ended the call without a goodbye.

"Attention." a soldier called as the TARDIS lowered down to Trafalgar Square.

The Doctor dropped off the TARDIS and stood before Kate and a girl in a rainbow scarf, he saluted them, and frowned realising what he was doing, "why am I saluted?"

"Cos you're an idiot." Star answered as she and Clara walked over.

"Oh yeah?"

"But my idiot. My old man."

"My shining star." he countered.

Kate smiled at the father and daughter thinking back to her father and how close they used to be, "Doctor, Star, as Chief Scientific Officer, may I extend the official apologies of UNIT."

"Kate Lethbridge Stewart," the Doctor approached her, "as I'm sure your father would have told you, I don't like being picked up."

"That probably sounds better in his head." Clara grimaced.

"I'm acting in instructions direct from the throne." Kate continued, "Sealed from her Majesty Elizabeth the 1st."

"The queen? The first? Sorry, Elizabeth the 1st?"

"Her credentials are inside." The Doctor was about to open the letter, "no, inside." she gestured to the gallery.

"Right," he nodded.

"Nice scarf," Star winked at the girl as she passed heading into the gallery.

"Attention," a soldier saluted as they heads up the steps to the gallery.

"Did you know her," Clara asked, "Elizabeth 1st?"

"This lot. UNIT." he answered instead, "they investigate alien stuff. Anything alien."

"Like you two?"

"I work for them."

"You have a job?" she blinked.

"Why shouldn't I have a job? I'd been brilliant at having a job."

"You don't have a job."

"I do. This is my job. I'm doing it now."

"Elizabeth's credentials." Kate informed them unveiling a painting. The three of them stopping and staring in shock at the painting before them. The painting was of THE Citadel encased in a dome that was shattered and broken, fire raging everywhere as it was attacked.

"But...but that's not possible." Clara breathed.

"No more." the Doctor breathed.

"That's the title." Kate nodded.

"I know the title."

"Also Gallifrey Fall, yes?" Star looked at Kate who nodded. "It doesn't belong here, not this time or place."

"Obviously." Clara scoffed.

"It's the fall of Arcadia," the Doctor told them, "Gallifrey's second city."

"But how is it doing that? How is that possible? It's an oil paint in 3D."

"Time Lord art." Star replied, "Bigger on the inside. History, frozen forever."

"He was there." The Doctor breathed.

"Who was?" Clara looked at him.

"Me. The other me. The one I don't talk about."

"I don't understand."

"I've had many faces, many lives. I don't admit to all of them. There's one life I've tried very hard to forget. He was the Doctor who fought in the Time War, and that was the day he did it. The day I did it. The day he killed them all. The last day of the Time War. The war to end all wars between my people and the Daleks. And in that battle there was a man with more blood on his hands than any other, a man who would commit a crime that would silence the universe. And that man was me."

"But the Time War's over." Clara looked at Kate as the Time Lords continued to stare at the painting. "Why have you brought us here to look at a painting?"

"The painting only serves as Elizabeth's credentials," Kate explained, "proof that the letter is from her. It's not why you're here."  
>The Doctor looked down at the paper and broke the seal, reading it.<p>

_My dearest love,_

_I hope the painting known as Gallifrey Falls will serve as proof that it is I, Elizabeth who writes to you now. You will recall that you pledged yourself to the safety of my kingdom. In this capacity I have appointed you as curator of the Under Gallery, where deadly danger to England is locked away. Should any disturbance occur with its walls, it is my wish hat you be summoned._

_God speed, my lonely god._

"What happened?" Star looked at Kate.

"Easier to show you." she turned and led them out the room, as one of them answered his phone.

"McGillop." He said, "But that's not possible. I was just. Understood, sir. But why would I take it there?" his words were cut off as a metal shutter closed behind them.

~.~

They stopped as they stood in front of a large portrait of Elizabeth 1st with the previous Doctor in period clothing.

"Elizabeth 1st. you knew her then?" Clara guessed.

"When did this happen?" Star frowned.

"I…I don't…" the Doctor blinked, looking at it, "I don't remember…"

"We met her once and almost got beheaded. You," she nodded at the Doctor, "met her when you and Martha went to see Shakespeare. When was this?!" she demanded.

"I don't know." He shook his head.

"This way," Kate led them through a doorway behind the painting, "welcome to the Under Gallery. This is where Elizabeth 1st kept all art deemed too dangerous for public consumption."

The Doctor scooped up a handful of sand from the floor, letting it drop through his fingers, Star catching it and letting it run through her fingers.

"This dust…" Star began, frowning at it.

"Is it important?" Kate looked back at them, neither she nor Clara understanding why dust was so important to them.

"In 1200 years I've never stepped in anything that wasn't." the Doctor remarked, standing up and brushing off his hands.

"Hey, you." Star called spotting the girl with the scarf in the door way, she made a small squeak, "are you sciency?"

"Oh, er, well, er, yes." She stuttered.

"Got a name?" the Doctor asked her.

"Yes." Was all the startled girl could manage out.

"Good. I've always wanted to meet someone called Yes. Now, I want this stone dust analysed. And I want a report in triplicate, with lots of graphs and diagrams and complicated sums on my desk, tomorrow morning, ASAP, pronto, LOL. See? Job. Do I have a desk?"

"No." Kate shook her head.

"And I want a desk."

"Get a team." Kate ordered, "analyse the stone dust." The girl wheezed as the Doctor winked at her as she left, "Inhaler!" she shouted as she led them further into the Under Gallery, passing a Fez in a display case on the way.

The Doctor stopped and put it on his head.

"Someday, you could just walk past a fez." Clara remarked.

"That'll be the day." Star laughed.

"Never gonna happen." the Doctor agreed.

They walked into a white room with broken glass on the floor and landscapes on the wall.

"This is why we called you in." Kate gestured around the room.

"3D again." Clara murmured.

"Interesting." The Doctor mused, taking a piece of glass Star had picked up and taking it for himself.

"The broken glass?"  
>"No. where its broken from. Look at the shatter pattern."<p>

"The glass has been broken from the inside." Star frowned.

"As you can see, all the painting are landscapes." Kate sighed, "No figures of any kind."  
>"Go on?"<p>

"There used to be." She handed the Doctor a tablet with the original image on and he held it to the painting showing that their used to be figures painting in the distance.

"Something's got out of the paintings." Clara realised.

"Lots of something's." The Doctor agreed.

"Dangerous something's." Star added.

"This whole place has been searched." Kate told them "there's nothing here that shouldn't be, and nothing got out."

A portal appeared above them.

"Oh no, not now." The Doctor groaned.

"What is it?" Clara eyed it.

"No, not now. We're busy."  
>"Is it to do with the paintings?" Kate wondered.<p>

"No," Star shook her head, "this is different."

"I remember this." The Doctor murmured, "Almost remember. Of, course. This is where we come in."

Star grinned and grabbed his fez, throwing it into the portal and jumping in after it.

"Hey, come back with my fez!" the Doctor laughed, following her, "Geronimo!"

Star landed with a small thud as the Doctor landed with an 'oomph' on top of her.

"Ow!" she whined, "you're heavy!"

"Sorry." He winced, getting up and helping her up, brushing off the dirt from where they'd landed in the dirt. "See. All better."

"Who are these people?" a voice demanded.

They looked over to see the pervious Doctor standing there, the fez on his head, with Queen Elizabeth 1st, much younger than either of them have met, and…there were two of them.

"That's just what I was wondering." The 10th Doctor remarked.  
>"Oh, that is skinny." The 11th Doctor looked at the past him, "that is proper skinny. I've never seen it from the outside. It's like a special effect."<p>

"He's wearing your fez." Star whispered to him.

"Oi!" he knocked the fez to the ground, "ha! Matchstick man!"

"You're not." The 10th Doctor looked at him and they both pulled out their sonic's, the 10th turned his on as the 11th opened his up, "compensating."

"For what?"

"Regeneration. It's a lottery."

"Oh, he's cool. Isn't he cool?" he glanced back at Star who was watching amused, "im the Doctor and im all cool"

"Mention the sandshoes." Star giggled.

"Oops, im wearing sandshoes."

"What are you doing here?" the 10th Doctor hissed, "Im busy."

"'Busy'. Is that what you call it?" The 11th Doctor put the fez on and turned to the Elizabeth's, "Hello ladies."

"Don't start." 10 rolled his eyes.

"Listen, what you get up to in the privacy of your own regeneration is your business."

"One of them is a Zygon."

"Urghh." 11 and Star grimaced.

11 looked at the queens and back to 10, "im not judging you."

"I am so judging you." Star remarked.

"Who's the ginger?" he eyed her, slightly…jealous of her being ginger.

She let out an outraged sound at not being recognised, so held out her hand for him to take, who he shook and ever so slowly his eyes widened as he realised who she was, "hello dad."

"Not…possible…" he breathed.

"That's our Star." 11 beamed, putting an arm around her, as 10 reached for her, "well, actually MY Star. Get your own Star. She's mine."

Star rolled her eyes, and stepped away from him, "he at least gets a hug." She moved at hugged him as 10 held her close, hardly believing he was there. "Right, anyway." She pulled away; "back to business." she nodded to the portal.

They turned to look up at it, both Doctor putting on their glasses as Star pouted, feeling left out for not having any glasses.

"Oh, lovely." The Doctors grinned at each other.

"Your majesties," Star turned to them, "you should run."

"But what about the creature?" they both asked.

"Elizabeth," 10 turned to them, "whichever one of you is the real one, turn and run in the opposite direction to the other."

"Of course, my love."

"Stay alive, my love," one came up and kissed him, "I am not done with you yet." She ran off.

"Thanks lovely."  
>"I understand." The second mimicked the first, "live for me my darling. We shall be together again." she ran in the opposite direction of the first.<p>

"Well, won't that be nice?"

"One of those was a Zygon." 11 reminded 10.

"Yeah."

"Big red rubbery thing covered in suckers." Star said.

"Yeah."

"Venom sacs in the tongue."

"Yes, im getting the point thank you, Star."

"Your welcome, daddy." She smiled at him, as he let out a breath at that.

The words he hadn't been called in so long and assumed her never would ever again, but there she was, his Star, his shining star, she was there, alive and happy and had just called him daddy.

"Who are you?" a voice called from behind.

They looked over to see Rose Tyler standing on a tree stump, acting as she was the most important human ever.

Before anything else happen, the 11th Doctor pulled Star behind him.

Making Rose blink at the action, so she looked at her Doctor, "Doctor, what's going on?"

"He's um…" 10 rubbed the back of his neck, "he's me."  
>"What do you mean he's you?" she eyed him, "is that a…bow tie?"<p>

"He's the next me."

But Star and 11 were more bothered about her insult, "Oi! Bow ties are cool!" they straighten their ties in sync with each other.

"So, who's the girl?" she demanded.

"She's, er…my daughter."

"What?!" she screeched, making them all wince at the volume.

"Hello," Star skipped over to her, "im Star. What wrong with bow ties?"  
>"Well, normal ties are better."<p>

"Well with normal ties I can do this," she tugged on 10's tie, making him bend down at the force, "you can't with bow ties, so they're safer, less injuries, and you can't get trapped in a car door."

"Oh, bring that up." 11 rolled his eyes playfully, thinking back to when Amy trapped him in a car door when they first met.

"Doctor, Star, is that you?" Clara called through the portal.

"Clara!" Star cheered, turning to the portal again, "hello!"

"Can you hear us?" the Doctor asked her.

"Yeah, it's me." She replied, "We can hear you. Where are you?"

"Where are we?" he turned to his past self.

"England, 1562." 10 supplied.

"Who are you talking to?" she inquired.

"Myself." Both Doctors answered.

"Can you come back through?" Kate wondered.

"Physical passage may not be possible in both direction." 11 remarked.

"Hold on." Star grabbed the fez, "fez incoming!" she threw it through the portal.

"Nothing here." Clara answered after a moment.

"So where did it go?" 10 frowned.

"What is that thing?" Rose cut in.

"Star'll explain." 11 winked at her, wanting her to show Rose off, he still wasn't happy at how she had treated Star on the crucible and he would make sure the girl know he cared more about Star than her. She may have been his first companion since the war but Star was so much more important to him than she'll ever be.

"A fissure in time," Star answered promptly.

"That doesn't really help." Rose murmured.

"There is not simpler way of putting it."

"Who else is there?" Clara asked, Star was there and two Doctors but also there was another voice.

"Rose." 10 told her, curious to her reaction, "Rose Tyler."

"Is she an old companion?"

Rose let out an outraged and slightly hurt squeak. After everything they'd been through, are going though and he just waved her off as someone who wasn't important. She thought she was important to him, her Doctor sure acted like she was. It must have been that girl, she glared at her, she made him hate her.

"The one who took in the time vortex and made you regenerate?" Clara asked.

"That's the one." He snapped his fingers as Rose flushed.

"Ok," Star clapped her hands, "if we can get back to what's going on here." She knew what he was doing, he was and at Rose for what she said on Bad Wolf Bay, he was trying to make Rose jealous that he had her and no longer needed her. Idiot.

"Right, yes," 10 nodded, "so," he looked at the future him, "you used to be me, you've done all this before. What happens next?"

"I don't remember." He admitted.  
>"How can you forget this?"<p>

"Not much of the Doctor are you." Rose muttered.

"Hold on," Star interrupted, not taking it well with Rose insulting her old man, "he'd only remember what he remembers," she nodded at 10, "so he obviously wasn't paying attention. So it's his fault." 11 high-fived her at showing his last self off, "try reversing the polarity."

The both aimed their sonic's at the fissure.

"It's not working." 11 moaned.

"We're both reversing the polarity." 10 pointed out.

"Yes, I know that."  
>"There's two of us. Im reversing it, you're reversing it back again. We're confusing the polarity."<br>The men lowered their arms as a man dropped down, someone the Time Lords recognised instantly, 11 pulling Star behind him, "keep away from him." he told her quietly making her rolled her eyes and step in front of him but he kept tightly hold of her still.

"Anyone lose a fez?" the warrior Doctor asked, holding said fez.

"You." 10 glared, "how can you be here? More to the point, why are you here?"

"Good afternoon. Im looking for the Doctor."

"Well, you've certainly come to the right place."  
>"Good. Right. Well, who are you boys and girls? Oh, of course. Are you his companions? Has he started taken on more than one?" There was four of them, he didn't used to have that many.<br>"Yes." Rose grinned, proud.

"His companions?" 11 looked offended.

"They get younger all the time." The man remarked, "Well, if you could point me in the general direction of the Doctor?"

They both held up their sonic's as Star pointed at both of them.

"Really?"

"Yeah." 11 nodded as 10 said, "Really."

"You're me?" he stared at them, "both of you?"

"Yep." 10 nodded, popping the 'p'.

"Even that one?" he looked at 11.

"Yes!" he cried, growing more insulted by the minute.

"So he says." Rose mumbled.

"You're my future selves?" the warrior gaped at them.

"Yes!" they cried.

"Am I having a midlife crisis?" they aimed their sonic's at him, 11 pulling Star behind him again, "Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols. Look like you've seen a ghost."

"Still," 10 remarked, "loving the posh gravely thing. It's very convincing."

"Brave words, Dick Van Dyke." 11 countered.

A moment alter a troop of soldiers ran up to them, "encircle them." One man ordered, "Which of you is the Doctor? The queen of England is bewitched. I would have the Doctor's head."

"Well, this has all the making of your lucky day" the warrior glanced at his future selves.

"I think there's 3 Doctor's now." They heard Clara.

"There's a precedent for that." Kate spoke up.

"Clara!" Star cheered. "And Kate!"

"Are you completely mad?" Rose blinked at her, "we're surrounded by men with swords, at least try to cooperate."  
>"Yes I am. And proud."<p>

"Am what?"

"Completely mad. Im mental. Insane. An abomination…"

"What is that?" the soldier looked at the portal in alarm.

"Oh, the pointing again," the warrior rolled his eyes as 10 and 11 got their sonic's out again, "they're screwdrivers! What are you going to do, assemble a cabinet at them?"

"You can't assemble a cabinet," Star told him, "they still don't do wood."

"Bring that up, why don't you?" 11 whined.

"Who was it who blew up my sonic before I was even given it?" he fell silent and pouted, "I never got it back."

The warrior eyed her in confusion, wondering how she could possibly have been given a sonic, there was only one person who he'd give a sonic too before and she was his best friend, he gave her a sonic lipstick and K9 the robot dog. This girl must be very special to him.

"That thing," a soldier called, "what witchcraft is it?"

"Ah, yes," 11 pointed at him, "now that you mention it, that is witchcraft. Yes, yes, yes. Witchy witchcraft. Hello? Hello in there. Excuse me hello!"

"How's the wicked witch of the well?" Star laughed, knowing Clara would get the reference to Caliburn house. "Clara."

"Hello." Clara answered.

"Hello." 11 smiled, "would you mind tell these prattling mortals to get themselves begone?"

"What he said."

"Yes, tiny bit more colour."

"Right," she cleared her throat, "prattling mortals, off you pop or I'll turn you all into frogs."

"Ooh, frogs. Nice. You heard her."

"What's going on?" Clara huffed.

"It's a timey- wimey thing?"

"Timey what?" the warrior frowned, "timey-wimey?"

"I've no idea where he picks that stuff up." 10 acted innocent.

Then one of the Elizabeth's arrived and the soldiers fell to their knees.

"The queen." They called, "the queen."

"You don't seem to be kneeling." She smirked at the group, "how tremendously brave of you."

"Which one are you?" 10 demanded, "What happened to the other one?"

"Indisposed. Long live the queen."

"Long live the queen." The soldiers repeated.

"Arrest these men and girls. Take them to the Tower."

"That is not the queen of England!" 10 pointed at her, "that's an alien duplicate."

"And you can take it from him, cos he's already checked." Star smirked.

"Shut up." he whined.

"Venom sacs in the tongue."

"Seriously, stop it."

"No, hang on. The tower. Did you say the tower?" 11 turned to Elizabeth, "ah, yes, brilliant. Love the tower. Breakfast at 8, please. Will there be wi-fi?"  
>"Are you capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?" the warrior had to ask.<p>

"Yes." He nodded, his hands flapping about, "No. I demanded to be incarcerated in the Tower immediately with my co-conspirators Sandshoes, Granddad, Flower and Gingerbread."

"Granddad?" the warrior looked offended.

"They're not sandshoes." 10 rolled his eyes.

"Yes, they are." The warrior looked down at them.

"Silence!" Elizabeth shouted, "The Tower is not to be taken lightly. Very few emerge again."

"Oh, mysterious!" Star laughed.

"Oh my god!" Rose cried at her, "we are being taken to the TOWER!" she wasn't the smartest person, but she knew that at this point in history it was used as a place of torture.

"Why don't you like me Rose?" she asked her, "Considering you haven't met me yet, you hate me so much."

"Star…" 11 tried to calm her down.

"In a minute," she snapped at him, turning back to Rose, "what have I actually done to you to make you hate me?"

"Enough!" the queen yelled, "Guards, seize them and take them to the Tower."

"I didn't get my answer!"

"Star!" 11 chastised, "Now is not the time!"

She took a breath and stepped away from Rose, "I'm calm. I'm calm."

"Is she always this angry?" the warrior asked to no one in particular.

"You have no idea who I am, do you?" Star eyed him.

"Should I?"

"You're in for a big surprise!" she winked, "so the Tower of London then!"

~.~

"Come on, you lot, get in there." The warden shoved the grouping to a cell.

"Ow." The warrior stumbled as he was pushed.

The 11th Doctor picked up a nail, scratching away on a pillar, he called back to the other Doctors, "three of us in one cell? That's going to cause some nasty anomalies if we don't get out soon."  
>"What are you doing?" Rose asked hesitantly.<p>

"Getting us out."

10 looked over at the warrior as he soniced the wooden door, "the sonic won't work on that, it's too primitive."  
>"And its wood." Star added.<p>

"Shall we ask for a better quality of door so we can escape?" 11 laughed.

"Ok," 10 nodded, "so the queen of England is now a Zygon. But never mind that. Why are we all together? Why are we all here? Well, me and Chinny, we were surprised, but you came looking for us. You knew it was going to happen. Who told you?"

"Oi, chinny?" the 11 pouted.

"Yeah, you do have a chin."  
>"It's a nice chin though." Star patted it and 11 stuck his tongue out at 10, "but then, you have nice hair." She ran her fingers through 10's hair, "it's so big and spiky." She turned to the warrior, "you have a nice beard."<p>

"In theory," the warrior mused, eying Star with curiosity and confusion, "I can trigger an isolated sonic shift among the molecules, and the door should disintegrate."

"But you'd have to calculate the exact harmonic resonance of the entire structure down to a sub-atomic level." Star countered "Even the sonic would taken centuries."

The warrior blinked at her, "you've very clever."

Rose, stood in the corner, quiet, as they talked and thought of a way out, it hit her there how…human she was. They were all Time Lords and all very smart. And not only that but…they were family, and she was just Rose, just the simple pink and yellow human, the girl who was jealous because the Doctor's daughter had survived the Time War and no longer needed her to heal him from the pain.

"As I should be." Star winked at him.

"You were always were smarter than most." 11 called.

"Hmm, I wonder who I get that from?" she teased, earning a chuckle.

The warrior watched them sadly, the way he talked to the girl, it just felt wrong for him to have such a close relation ship was someone that young who could be his daughter; it pained him as she reminded him of his Star, his Nova, and how he had broken his promise to her. With what he was about to do, Time Lock the planet, he would never see her again.

"Well, we might as well get started." The warrior remarked, "Help to pass the timey-wimey. Do you have to talk like children? What is it that makes you so ashamed of being a grown up? Oh, the way you both look at me. What is that? Im trying to think of a better word than dread."  
>"It must be really recent for you." 10 eyed him.<p>

"Recent?"

"The Time War." 11 looked at him, "the last day. The day you killed them all."  
>"The day we killed them all." 10 corrected.<p>

"Same thing."  
>"I don't talk about it." the warrior murmured.<p>

"You're not talking about it," Star frowned, glancing around the room, "there's no one else here."

"Did you ever count?" the warrior asked his future selves.

"Count what?" 11 avoided his eye, knowing exactly what he meant.

"How many children there were on Gallifrey that day."

He stop scratching, "I have absolutely no idea."

"How old are you now?" the warrior asked.

"Ah, I don't know. I lose track. 1200 and something. I think, unless im lying. I can't remember if im lying about my age, that's how old I am."  
>"400 years older than me and in all that time you've never even wondered how many there were? You never once counted? Did you even think about those 4?" he demanded, thinking of their 4 children, how they were about to die…because of him.<p>

"Tell me, what would be the point?"

"2.47 billion." 10 glared at 11, shocked he'd just forget.

"Oh my god…" Rose breathed, and that was just children, there would have been adults aswell, she'd never even thought about all those.

"You did count!" the warrior cried.

"You forgot? 400 years is that all it takes?"

"I moved on." He muttered.

"Where? Where can you be now that you can forget something like that?"  
>"Shut up!" Star called, "just…stop, please!" and 11 automatically stopped scratching as was at her side in an instant, keeping her close until she sent him back to scratching, she hated talking about it, especially to someone other than him, yes, they were him but Rose was also there and she was listening to them talking.<p>

"Well, for once I would like to know where im going." 10 remarked, changing the topic seeing Star clearly upset at the number, knowing that would have been her siblings, her friends, her classmates…

"No, you really wouldn't." 11 shook his head.

"I don't know who you are, either of you." the warrior sighed, "I haven't got the faintest idea. No."

"No?" 10 looked at him.

"Just, no."

11 began to laugh to himself so 10 turned to him instead, "is something funny? Did I miss a funny thing?"

"Sorry," he laughed, "its just occurred to me. This is what im like when im alone," he looked at Star, "thank you that hasn't happened in a while."  
>She playfully rolled her eyes at him, when she saw Rose in the corner, "you ok, Rose?" she asked, walking over to her, she had her rant to the girl, again, and now it was time for her to be nice to her, she did heal her dad, she was important to him whether he cared or not.<p>

"Fine." She nodded.

"Sure?"

"Yeah, fine."

"I can tell when people lie. I can see through them."

"400 years." The warrior murmured.

"Im sorry?" 10 frowned at him.

"At a software level, they're all the same device, aren't they? Same software, different case."

"Yeah."

"So?" 11 shook his head

"It would take centuries for the screwdriver to calculate how to disintegrate the door," the warrior explained, "scanning the door, implanting the calculation as a permanent subroutine in the software architecture and if you really are me, with your sandshoes and your dickie bow, and that screwdriver is still mine, that calculation is still going on."

10 looked at his sonic, "yeah, still going."  
>"Calculation complete." 11 grinned.<p>

"Hey, 400 years in 4 seconds. We may have had our difference, which is frankly odd in the circumstance, but, I tell you what, boys. We are incredible clever."

The door opened and Clara ran in, well more stumbled in.

"Clara!" Star cheered, running over to her.

"How did she do that?" Rose walked over.

"It wasn't locked." Clara panted.

"It wasn't?" 11 blinked.

"So they're both you, then, yeah?" she gestured to the other Doctors.

"You've met them before. Don't you remember?"

"A bit," she nodded, recalling the time tunnel, "nice suit," she looked at 10.

He grinned, "Thanks."

"Is that Rose?" she asked 11 quietly nodding to Rose.

"Hi." She offered a smile and wave.

"Hi."

"Be nice." Star called.

"Didn't you snap at her earlier?"

"I snap at everyone!"

"Still got a temper, then?" 10 remarked.

She blinked up at him, "worse."

"Hang on," Clara realised something, "three of you in one cell, and…Star," there was no way to really explain Star, "and none of you thought to try the door?"

"It should have been locked." The warrior frowned.

"Didn't even need to be locked for me to get out." Star smirked, "just a blink."

"Really, a blink?" 11 looked at her.

"Do we have time for this?" Clara sighed.

"Slight exaggeration?" Star shrugged.  
>"How slight?" he asked.<br>"A punch would work, maybe less."

"Why are so full of yourself."  
>"I wonder where I get that from."<p>

"Well it's not from me!"

"Wanna bet?" she smirked.

"Um," he paused, knowing she always won her bets, "actually im ok."

"Do they do this often?" the warrior asked Clara quietly.

"Yeah. Star always wins."

"Right," 11 cleared his throat, "why wasn't the door locked?"

"Because I was fascinated to see what you would do upon escaping," Elizabeth entered the cell, "I understand you're rather fond of this world. Its time I think you saw what's going to happen to it."  
>"Fond of this planet." Star scoffed, "im more than fond of the planet. It's my favourite, out of all the planet in the entire universe, Earth is my favourite out of them all. It's so amazing and beautiful and…" she looked back at 11, "am I rambling?"<p>

"Little bit." He nodded.

"Right. Carry on."

"The Zygon's lost their world," Elizabeth explained to them as she led the through the dungeons, "it burnt in the first days of the Time War. A new home is required."

"And they want Earth?" Rose tried to follow.

"Not yet. Far too primitive. Zygon's are use to certain lever of comfort."

"Commander," a Zygon approached, "what are these creatures here?"

"Because I say they should be. it is time you too were translated. Obverse this. I believe you will find it fascinating."

They watched as the Zygon put its hand on a small glass cube with dents in the corner and then vanished. And appeared in the painting Kate had shown them earlier."

"That's him!" Clara gasped, "That's the Zygon in the picture now."

"It's not a picture," the warrior shook his head, "it's a stasis cube. Time Lord art. Frozen instants in time, bigger on the inside, but could be deployed as..."

"Suspended animation," 10 cut him off, "oh, that's very good. The Zygon's all pop inside the pictures, wait a few centuries till the planet a bit more interesting, and then they come out."

"They store the paintings in the Under Gallery." the Doctor finished explaining to help the humans understand more.

"Like cup-a-soup!" Star cheered. "Except you add time. If you can picture that...nobody could picture that. Forgot cup-a-soups."

"And now the world is worth conquering," Clara realised.

"So the Zygon's are invading the future from the past?" Rose frowned.

"Exactly." 11 nodded.

"And you know why I know you're a fake?" 10 rounded on Elizabeth, "because you're such a bad copy. It's not just the smell or he unconvincing hair or the atrocious teeth or the eyes just a bit too close together or that breath that could stun a horse. It's because my Elizabeth, the real Elizabeth would never be stupid enough to reveal her own plan. Honestly why would you do that?"

"Because it's not my plan," she glared at him, "and I am the real Elizabeth."

"Ok," he blinked and nodded, not expecting that, "so, backtracking a moment just to lend my context to my earlier remarks."

"What happen to the detector, Doctor?" Rose asked.

"My twin is dead in the forest. I am accustomed to taking precautions." she pulled out a dagger from the garter beneath her dress. "These Zygon creatures never even concurred that it was me who survived rather than their own commanded. The arrogance that typifies their kind."

"Zygon's?" Rose frowned.

"Men."

"And you actually killed one of them?" Clara asked her, impressed.

"I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman but at the time so did the Zygon. The future of my kingdom is imperilled. Doctor, can I rely on your service?"

"Well, I'm going to need my TARDIS." he began.

"It has been procured already."

"Ah."

"But first, my love, you have a promise to keep."

~.~

It had been simple really. While Elizabeth was getting ready in her chambers, Star had approached and had asked for her to wrote her letter to the Doctor, and then she had wiped her mind by pressed her fingers to the woman's head, the Elizabeth they met didn't know who they were, why else would she ask to marry him again unless she forgot them.

So, 10 was a free man and was not going to be king of England. And her nickname was still there.

"You've let this place go a bit." the warrior remarked as he looked around 10's console, the coral and y-beams.

"Well I think she's beautiful." Rose said.

"It's his grudge phase," 11 waved them off; "he grows out of it."

10 patted the rotor, "Don't you listen to them."

And then the alarms blared.

"What is that?" Rose gasped.

"Ow!" 10 winced as he reached for the console and received and electric shock, "desktop is glitching."

"3 of us from different time zones. It's trying to compensate." the warrior realised.

"Hey look," 11 smiled, as the walls went white with round holes in them, "the round things."

"I love the round things." 10 grinned.

"What are the round things?"

"No idea."

"Oh dear, the fiction contrafibulator."

Star pulled a lever and the desktop settled as THEIR TARDIS desktop, "ha! Stabilised!"

"Oh, you've redecorated." 10 looked around, "I don't like it."

11's smile faded as he expected praise, "oh. Oh yeah? Oh, you never do."

"We need to get to the National Gallery." Star told them.

"No," Clara cut in, "UNIT HQ. They followed us there in the Black Archive." the 3 Doctors and Star turned to her, "ok, so you've heard of that, then."

"What's...what's the Black Archive?" Rose asked, seeing their expressions.

"A collection of the most dangerous alien artefacts." Star told her as the Time Lords rushed around the console, trying to get through, "got it!"

"In the event of any alien incursion," they heard the young scientist (the one with the inhaler) speak, "the contents of this room are deemed so dangerous, it will self-destruct in."

"5 minutes." Kate finished and they heard an alarm and a countdown, "there's a nuclear warhead 20 feet beneath us. Are you sitting comfortably?"

"You would destroy London?" another Kate asked, most likely a Zygon.

"To save the world, yes, I world."

"You're bluffing."

"You really think so? Somewhere in your memory is a man called Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart. I am his daughter."

"Science leads, Kate." The Doctor called to her, "is that what you meant? Is that what your father meant?"  
>"Doctor?"<p>

"Space-time paragraph." Star told her before the woman could ask how they were contacting them.

"A gift from me to your father," the Doctor added, "hotline straight to the TARDIS."

"We know about the Black Archive."

"And we know about the security protocol, Kate, please. Please tell me you are not about to do something unbelievably stupid."

"Im sorry," Kate called, "switch it off."

"Not as sorry as you will be," 10 spoke up, "this is not a decision you will ever be able to live with."

The room fell silent and the warrior leaned on one of the y-beams, solemn.

"Kate, we're trying to bring the TARDIS in," Star frowned, "why can we not land?"

"I said, switch it off." Kate ignored her.

"No, Kate, please." The Doctor pleaded, "Just listen to us!"

"The Tower of London, totally TARDIS-proof." 10 realised.

"How can they do that?" Clara frowned.

"What?" Rose's eyes widened.

"Alien technology plus human stupidity." Star shrugged, "that is unbeatable."

The warrior frowned at her, he tended to stick with human companions, but this girl, it seemed she wasn't human as she insulted them, she must just be a humanoid species, and very smart so it seems, he had taken some aliens other than humans as companions before but preferred humans.

He looked at the stasis cubes on the console, "we don't need to land." He murmured.

"Yeah, we do." 10 looked at him, "a tiny bit. Try and keep up."

"No, we don't. We don't. There is anther way." He held the cube up they'd taken from the Zygon's, "Cup-a-soup. What is cup-a-soup?"

"Brilliant!" Star grinned, turning to make the call.

"McGillop." The man they heard earlier answered.

"Take a look at your phone and confirm who you're talking to." The Doctor called.

"But that's not possible. I was just…"

"You were just talking to me. I know. Time travel, figure it out. I need you to send the Gallifrey Falls painting to the Black Archive. Understood?"

"Understood, sir. But why would I take it there?"

"Because it'll save the planet."

~.~

Inside the painting stood four figures, 3 Time Lords and 1 Time Lady next to a blue box that held 2 humans inside. The warrior was slightly confused as to why it was only Clara and Rose inside and not Star as surely it would have been safer for her as well but he had stayed silent, there must be a good reason.

"Exterminate!" a Dalek shouted, approaching them.

Without a second thought Star flung her hands out at the Dalek sending it crashing out of the painting and into…

The Black Archive. The four of them stepping out after it as the Daleks.

"Hello," the warrior greeted as he stood in the middle of 2 sets of Kate's and her 2 scientists.

"Im the Doctor." 10 added.

"And im Star." Star stepped up.

"Sorry about the Dalek." 11 winced.

"Whoops."

"Also showing off." Clara laughed as she and Rose followed them out.

"Kate Lethbridge Stewart, what in the name of sanity are you doing?" the 11 demanded of her.

"The countdown can only be halted at my personal command." Kate told them, "There's nothing you can do."

"Except make you both agree to halt it." 10 countered.

"Not even 3 of you and Star."

"You're about to murder millions of people." The warrior frowned.

"To save millions. How many times have you made that calculation?"

"Once." 11 stated, "Turned me into the man I am not. Im not even sure who that is any more."

"You tell yourself its justified," 10 agreed, "but it's a lie. Because what I did that day was wrong. Just wrong."

"And because I got it wrong, im going to make you get it right."

"How?" Kate scoffed.

"Because you're going to stop that countdown," Star crossed her arms, "both of you, together."

"Then you're going to negotiate the most perfect treat of all time." 11 continued.

"Safeguards all round," 10 nodded, "completely fair on both sides."

"And the key to perfect negotiation?"  
>"Not knowing what side you're on."<br>"So, for the next few hours, until we decide to let you out…"

"No one in this room will be able to remember if they're human…"

"Or Zygon." Star smirked.

"Whoops a daisy." Both 11 and 10 jumped onto the table, aiming their sonic's at the memory device on the ceiling, the warrior helping from the side.

A bight light filled the room and the Kate's looked at each other before turning to the countdown as it reached 7, "cancel the detonation!" they shouted, stopping it at 5.

"Peace in our time." 11 smiled.

"I was expecting it to be 3 seconds left." Star pouted.

~.~

A short while later would fine, the Kate's negotiating, 10 and 11 watching them. As Clara and Rose looked at the board with all the past companions, talking to each other.

"Hello, old man." Star grinned and she joined the warrior, sitting in a chair to the side.

"Please don't call me that." He looked down.

"Why not?" she tilted her head.

"There's only one person I let call me that."

"Hello, old man." She repeated.

He blinked at her, frowning before his eyes slowly widened, "Nova…" he breathed, they'd been busy earlier, trying to stop the Zygon's and get out of the cell that he hadn't even realised he'd sensed another Time Lord nearby, "that's not possible."

"But yet…it is." She laughed.

He reached out and tucked a piece of her hair behind her eyes, "you're so beautiful."

She blushed lightly, "you haven't done get have you?" she asked carefully.

He stiffened, "what makes you say that?"

"I know you, seriously, I know you too well."

He laughed, "I bet." Then he added, "I should have gotten you all off the planet." He did want to, so badly did he want to get them all of, save them but, he'd heard they'd been taken to safe camps, somewhere safe from the Capitol and Arcadia.

"He regrets it," Star broke the silence after a moment, "it's in his eyes, he'd do anything to change it."

"But yet he's come to terms with it."

"Doesn't mean he likes it." she sighed, "he's only come to terms with it because I keep reminding him that I don't blame him. And I don't."

"Then, all things considered, its time I grew up. I've seen all I needed. The Moment has come," he looked to the side, "im ready."

Star followed his gaze, to see nothing there, "who are you calling to?" when she looked back the warrior was gone. She jumped up and ran over; "we need to go!" she called.

"Why?" 11 blinked.

"Its time!"

"Time for what?"

"He's gone!" she cried, "he's about to use the Moment!"

The Doctor's eyes widened, realising he hadn't used it yet and the group of time travellers ran to the TARDIS.

~.~

Two TARDISes materialised in a barn. The 11th Doctor, Star and Clara stepping out of one, the 10th Doctor and Rose out the other. They spotted the warrior standing in the middle of the room, the Moment before him on a crate, open to show a red button.

"Go away now," he turned to them before quickly looking back, "all of you. This is for me."

"These events should be time-locked." 10 looked around. "We shouldn't even be here."

"So something let us through." 11 reasoned.

"Go back," the warrior pleaded, "go back to your lives. Go and be the Doctor that I could never be. Make it worthwhile." 10 and 11 made their way to join him, "please," he whispered to them, "don't let her see me do this."

"All those years, burying you in my memory." 10 murmured.

"Pretending you didn't exist." 11 sighed, "Keeping you a secret, even from myself."

"Pretending you weren't the Doctor, when you were the Doctor more than anybody else."

"You were the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right."

"But this time…"

"You don't have to do it alone."

They all put their hands on the button, "thank you," the warrior breathed.

"What we do today is not out of fear or hatred." 10 said, "It is done because there is no other way."

"And it is done in the name of the many live we are failing to save." The Doctor added.

"Don't…" a voice called from the side and they looked over at Star as she stood back with Clara and Rose, "please don't do this."

"We have no choice." Her Doctor shook his head.

"I know…" her breath caught her, "I just…" he walked over and put her hand on the button as well, "together."

"No." all 3 Doctors argued.

"It's all of us or none."

The room suddenly shifted, going dark, "what's happening?" Rose gasped.

"Oh my stars…" Clara breathed.

On the projection before them, they saw families trying to run, and escape, they saw Daleks attacking, firing aimlessly.

"These are the people you're going to burn?" Clara frowned, looking at all the destruction, all the death.

"Hold on…" Star blinked, "this is…" he spun around, seeing where in Arcadia they were, "No…no!"

"Star…" 11 approached her, seeing the tears in her eyes.

"Not this! Please not this!"

"What's wrong?" Rose frowned at her.

They watched the projection seeing a small group of four, attacking as many Dalek they could. One had dark red hair, the other three following, a young boy with sandy brown hair, keeping close to her, a girl with black hair and the youngest with dirty blonde hair.

"No, please…" Star breathed, "no this moment…"

She watched in horror as the blonde tripped, her weapon flying out her hand as a Dalek approached.

The black haired girl and the boy, were busy firing at the incoming Daleks, the girl with red hair, firing at the remaining Daleks, not seeming to notice the fallen girl as the girl scrambled for her weapon as a Dalek was about to fire at her…only for the red head to whip around and destroy it, and looked down at the blonde, holding out a hand and pulling her up, before she continued firing around as the blonde picked up her gun.

Only for a Dalek to hit her from behind, showing her skeleton.

"No!" Star screamed, the barn watched total silence as the red head in the projection turned and narrowed her eyes at the black Dalek, the last Cult of Skaro, along side the creator of the Daleks, Davros. They didn't fire at her, they didn't seem to move, but just waiting for her, as she ran at them, throwing a small dagger at Dalek Caan, the same dagger she always had with her, "emergency temporal shift!" the three of them disappearing from the battlefield.

Stars whole world stopped as she actually saw her sister die and she saw, now she knew why Caan and Davros had done it, it was the prophecy, killing her sister would have gotten her attention and broken through her soldier persona, and so she went after them for revenge.

But that was the last straw.

"Star?" 11 turned to her, her eyes glowing crimson, a dark look in her eye as they shone brighter than ever before.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" she screamed, a blue glow surrounding her, her hair billowing behind her as the power took over her.

"What the..." Rose stared, backing away.

"What is she doing!?" 10 cried.

"Star!" 11 rushed to her, taking her hands in his, "please, please, don't do this!"

"What is she doing?" the warrior shouted.

Sparks flew out of the Moment.

"She's destroying the Moment!" he cried.

"But how?" 10 yelled, watching in horror as his daughter (because she was his daughter, he just hadn't found her yet), destroyed the Moment, some sort of power bursting out do her, her eyes shining red.

"Star..." 11 stroked her cheek, wiping away her tears, "please stop. This has to happen, please, stop. You are strong, you can control it."

The blue glow slowly faded, Star blinking back, the Moment utterly destroyed.

"She destroyed it," the warrior murmured, "doomed us all." if they didn't use the Moment the Time War would spread and destroy the universe, "why did you do that?" he demanded to her.

"HOW did you do that?" 10 gaped at her.

"I just…" she swallowed at the damaged she had done, "im sorry, I had no control…" she hung her head at 11 pulled her into a tight hug. She knew she kept loosing control but today was the worse day to loose control. What she had just done...no wonder she was a monster.

"You told me the name you chose was a promise," Clara called, making 11 pull back from Star, "what was the promise?"

"Never cruel or cowardly." 10 murmured.

"Never give up, never give in," the warrior recalled, remembering his promise, the promise he'd almost forgotten.

"Never harm or cause harm," 11 finished.

10 looked at Star, "you just changed out own personally history!"

"Oops," she grinned sheepishly.

"It's far worse than that," 11 grinned.

"How worse?" The warrior asked.

"I've had 400 years to think about this."

"There's still a billion Daleks up there, attacking," the Warrior reminded them.

"But there's something those billion billion Daleks don't know," 10 began to smile.

"Because if they did, they'd send for reinforcements."

"What?" Rose shook her head, "what don't they know?"

"There's three of you," Clara gasped as she realised.

"Oh," the warrior blinked, realising what they were implying, "oh, yes, that is good. That is brilliant!"

"Ha, ha, ha!" 11 laughed, "I've been thinking about it for centuries."

The Warrior grinned widely, "She showed me exactly the future I needed to see."

"Who did?" Rose laughed, she may not fit in, but she was still there with them as they were about to save Gallifrey and that was amazing whether they wanted her there or not!

"Oh, my shining star, you are brilliant!" the Warrior cheered.

"Your welcome," Star beamed, not realising the Moments conscious took her form.

"Come here," 11 pulled her into a huge hug, ever so thankful for his beautiful girl for stopping him from making the biggest mistake of my life.

"So what are we doing?" Clara cut in.

"What's the plan?" Rose asked.

"The Daleks are surrounding Gallifrey, firing in it constantly," the Warrior explained.

"The Sky Trench is holding, but what if the whole planet just disappeared?" 10 grinned.

"The Daleks would be firing in each other," Star squealed, "they'd destroy themselves in their own crossfire. Ha!"

"Gallifrey would be gone, the Daleks would be destroyed and it would look to the rest of the incident as if they'd annihilated each other," the Warrior cheered.

"But where would Gallifrey be?" Clara shook her head.

"What would happen to it?" Rose agreed.

"It'd be frozen. In an instant of time," 10 explained to them, "safe and hidden away."

"Exactly." 11 grinned.

"Like a painting," the Warrior added.

~.~

The 11th Doctor stood in their TARDIS with Star as they contacted the High Command of Gallifrey. The 10th Doctor with Rose helping where she could, Clara with the Warrior.

"What's the made fool talking about now?" they heard the General asked, haven received their message of 'Gallifrey stands.'

"Hello!" the Doctor ran to the monitor, tugging Star with him, knowing their image would appear in the war room, "Hello, Gallifrey High Command, this is the Doctor speaking with Star."

"General." she greeted, the man looked terrified of not only a future Doctor but a future her.

"Hello!" the saw the 10th Doctor appeared with Rose slightly behind him, "also the Doctor...with Rose Tyler."

"Hi...?" Rose waved at the Time Lords.

"Can you hear us?"

"Also the Doctor, with Miss Oswald," the warrior appeared, "standing ready."

"Oh my stars," they heard Clara, "you're actually Time Lords."

"Dear god, three of them," the General breathed, "all my worst nightmares at once."

"General, we have a plan." 10 called.

"We should point at this moment it is a fairly terrible plan." 11 added

"And almost certainly wont work."

"I was happy with fairly terrible."

"Sorry, just thinking out loud."

"We're flying our three TARDISes into your lower atmosphere."

"We're positioned at equidistant intervals around the glove. Equidistant, so grown up."

"You wish," Star teased.

"Quiet you," he laughed.

"No."

"We're just about ready to do it." the Warrior warned.

"Ready to do what?" the General shook his head.

"Ready to freeze Gallifrey," Star stated.

"I'm sorry what?"

"Using out TARDISes," 10 quickly explained, "we're going to freeze Gallifrey in a single moment in time."

"You know? Like those statis cubes," the Warrior supplied, "a single moment in time, held in a parallel pocket universe."

"Except were going to do it to the whole planet," 11 added.

"And all the people in it," 10 nodded.

"What?" the General gasped, "even it that was possible, which it isn't, why would you do such a thing?"

"Because the alternative is burning," 11 swallowed.

"And I've seen then," 10 sighed.

"And I never want to see it again."

"And we can't..." Star spoke up; hesitantly "I destroyed the Moment."

"How?" the General gaped, to destroy such a dangerous weapon, that was worse than using it.

"With…my mind. It was an accident."

The Generals eyes widened at what she was implying, but shook it off since otherwise they'd be dead, "we'd be lost in another universe, frozen in a single moment. We'd have nothing."

"You'd have hope, and right now, that's what you haven't got. So shut up and trust us. Please."

"It's delusional. The calculations alone would take hundreds of years."

"Oh, hundreds." 11 agreed.

"But don't worry, I started a very long time ago." 10 smiled.

And then images if all different incarnations of the Doctors appeared, all helping from different points in their timeline.

"You might say I've been doing this all my life's," 11 laughed.

"I didn't know when we were well off," the General muttered, "all 12 of them!"

"No sir," a soldier beside him corrected, "all 13!"

Star looked up at that and looked at her Doctor but he was busy at the console and didn't see or hear the soldier correct the General. But it was impossible! He was out of regenerations and she hadn't given him any, she didn't have enough to give him, she needed at least 10.

"Sir!" the soldier called, "the Daleks know that something is happening. They're increasing their fire power."

"Do it, Doctor. Do it, Star," the General ordered, "Just do it. Just do it."

"Ok," 11 nodded, "gentlemen, we're ready. Geronimo!" he flicked a switch.

10 doing the same with a cry of, "Allons-y!"

"Oh for gods sake," the Warrior grumbled.

"Oh, go in," Clara laughed.

"Gallifrey stands!" he too flicked a switch.

They watched as a shield surrounded the planet, growing brighter until it exploded taking the planet with it as the Daleks fired...

~.~

The small group stood in the National Gallery, having tea, before the Gallifrey Falls painting. The TARDISes stood lined up against the wall.

"I don't suppose we'll know if we actually succeeded," the Warrior remarked, "but at worse, we failed doing the right thing, as opposed to succeeding in doing the wrong."

"Life and soul you are." Clara chuckled.

"What is it actually called?" 10 wondered.

"Well, there's some debate," 11 shrugged, "either No More or Gallifrey Falls."

"Not very encouraging," the Warrior remarked.

"How did it get here?" Rose asked.

"No idea." 11 shook his head.

10 smiled, "there's always something we don't know, isn't there?"

"One should certainly hope so," the Warrior chuckled, "well, gentlemen, ladies, it had been an honour and a privilege."

"Likewise."

"Doctor." 11 nodded to him.

"And my dear, Star," he smiled at her, "I have faith that's you'll always be there for me," he looked at the other Doctors, "I won't remember this will I?"

"The time streams are out of sync. You can't retain it, no."

"So, I won't remember that I tried to save Gallifrey rather than burn it. I'll have to live with that. But for this moment I am the Doctor again. Thank you," he tucked a piece of Stars hair behind her ear, and he looked at the TARDISes, "which one is mine? Ha!" he entered the most battered TARDIS and dematerialised.

"I won't remember either, so you might as well tell me," 10 said.

"Tell you what?" 11 blinked.

"Where it is we're going that you don't want to talk about."

"We saw Trenzalore."

"What's Trenzalore?" Rose asked, stepping over to her Doctor.

"It's where we're buried. We die in battle among millions."

"That's not how it's supposed to be," 10 frowned.

"That's how the story ends," he sighed, "nothing we can do about it. Trenzalore is where you're going."

"Oh, never say nothing. Anyway, good to know my future is in safe hands. Keep a tight hold in it, Clara."

"On it," she winked.

"Star," he hugged her quickly, fearing that he'd never let go otherwise.

"Dad," she smiled.

"Come on," Rose nudged him into their TARDIS, "I need to visit my mum."

He groaned, "Do we have to?"

"Yes!"

"Trenzalore!" he turned to them, "we need a new destination, because I don't want to go." he stepped in and dematerialised as well.

"He always says that," 11 smiled sadly.

"Need a moment alone with your painting?" Clara asked.

"How did you know?" 11 looked at her.

"Those big sad eyes. Oh and there was an old man looking for you. I think he was a curator."

"I could be a curator," the Doctor remarked to Star, "wouldn't I be great at curating. I'd be the Great Curator. I could retire and do that. I could retire and the curator of this place."  
>"You know, I really thing you might." A familiar voice called.<p>

They looked over to seen an older version of the 4th him, walking over with a walking stick. "I never forget a face." The Doctor smiled.

"I know you don't. And in years to come, you might find yourself revisiting a few. But just the old favourites, eh? You were curious about this painting, I think. I acquired it in remarkable circumstances. What do you make of the title?"  
>"It's both, isn't it?" Star guessed.<p>

"Oh, my dear Star," he laughed, "always the smart one. Gallifrey Falls No More. Now, what would you think that means, eh?"

"That Gallifrey didn't fall." The Doctor realised, "it worked. It's still out there."  
>"Im only a humble curator. Im sure I wouldn't know."<p>

"Then…where is it?" Star frowned.

"Where is it indeed?" the curator nodded, "lost. Shush. Perhaps. Things do get lost, you know. And now you must excuse me. Oh, you have a lot to do."

"Do we?" the Doctor looked hopeful.

"Mmm."

"Is that what we're supposed to do now? Go looking for Gallifrey?"  
>"Oh, it's entirely up to you. Your choice, eh? I can only tell you what I would do if I were you. Oh, if I were you." he chuckled at the irony, "oh, perhaps I was you, of course. Or perhaps you are me. Congratulations."<p>

"Thank you very much."

"Or perhaps it doesn't matter either way. Who knows, eh? Who knows?" he walked away again.

"What do you think?" the Doctor looked at her, "where should we start?"  
>"The second star on the right." She answered promptly and they ran into the TARDIS.<p>

~.~

_Clara sometimes asks me if I dream. Of course I dream, I tell her. Everybody dreams. But what do you dream about, she'll ask. The same thing everybody dreams about, I tell her. I dream about where im going. She always laughs at that. But you're not going anywhere, you're just wondering about. That's not true, Star would cut in. Not any more, I agree. Star and I have a new destination. Our journey is the same as yours, the same as anyone's. Its taken me so many years, so many life times, but at last I know where im going with my daughter. Where we've always been going._

_Home. The long way round._


End file.
